Thunderbird Gmail Configuration
Update: If you are using Thunderbird 1.5 + (newer versions) then visit the updated post Thunderbird Gmail Configuration v1 with snapshots. If you use older versions of Thunderbird then go through this page.
The new release of Thunderbird 1.0 is nice software for sending and receiving e-mails. The main advantage of Thunderbird is it is more secure than the Outlook Express. While using Outlook Express, a lot of spam messages arrive due to the reason that most of the people use Outlook Express. Outlook Express must also be updated very often. While Thunderbird is an open source software. It works well with Gmail and other emails. The configuration is very simple and even a lay man can operate. The layout is simple and also friendly. To configure Gmail in Thunderbird 1.0, do the following.
1) Install Thunderbird first. Restart the Computer.
2) Configuration for Thunderbird 1.0 and Gmail
Incoming Mail Server (POP3) => pop.gmail.com => Use SSL: Yes => Port: 995
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) => smtp.gmail.com => Use authentication: Yes => Use STARTTLS: Yes (some clients call this SSL) => Port: 465 or 587
Open Thunderbird 1.0
Go to Tools
Go to Account Settings
Click “Add Account” button
Select “Email Account”
Click “Next” button
Enter your name example “johny”
Enter Your email address example “johny@gmail.com”. include @gmail.com
Click “Next” button
Select POP on top
Enter Incoming Server as pop.gmail.com
Unselect “Use Gmail Inbox(Store Mail in local folders)”. Please dont select this
Click Next button
Under Incoming User Name write your full email address including @gmail.com example johny@gmail.com
Click Next
Under Account Name “johny@gmail.com” will come automatically. Put “URNAME@GMAIL” example “JOHNY@GMAIL”. This is for your reference. Use all Caps only for this.
Click Next.
Click Finish.
Now there will be new account created in “Account Settings” called “JOHNY@GMAIL”
Go to “Server Settings” under that.
Select the 1st checkbox-Use Secure connection(SSL)
Select the 4th checkbox-Check for new messages every 10 minutes
Dont select anything more
Go to “Outgoing Server SMTP” in “Account Settings”
Now Click Advanced
Click “Add”
In Server Name write smtp.gmail.com
“Use name and password” must be selected
Under “User Name” write full email address example johny@gmail.com
Under “Use Secure Connection” select SSL. For all Gmail accounts SSL should be used
After selecting SSL. The port number will automatically change from 25 to 465. This is correct
Now Click on Ok
Again Click on Ok
Go to Server Settings under “JOHNY@GMAIL”.
Click “Advanced”
Go to “SMTP” tab
Under Server select the last one down under from the drop down menu. Normally it will be smtp.gmail.com:465
Now Click on Ok
Try to Send and receive Email messages
Thunderbird will ask for password twice
You should enter the password correctly
Also select “Use Password Manager to remember this password”
So that it wont ask for password from the next time
That is all. Now you can receive all the emails in Thunderbird while online and read the letters when you are offline. This will help you save your time and money. To receive all the messages while you are online just press ctrl+shift+T. Thunderbird has cool Interface. You’ll like it very much. Especially those who liked Firefox will also like Thunderbird. I myself use Firefox for browsing and Thunderbird for checking my emails.
For more information, to configure gmail in Thunderbird,
refer this (login to gmail required)
Download the latest version of Thunderbird here
