Gmail’s Recent POP Change – What It Means for You (and the Simple Fix)

If you’ve been using Gmail to “check mail from other accounts” via POP, you may have noticed things have changed.

Recently, Google began tightening up support for retrieving third-party POP accounts inside Gmail. In many cases, Gmail no longer reliably pulls in mail from external hosting accounts using the old “Check mail from other accounts (POP3)” setting. For some users it has stopped working altogether, and for others it’s intermittent.

If your email is hosted elsewhere (for example on your website hosting via DirectAdmin/cPanel using Roundcube), this can be frustrating. The good news is that nothing is broken with your actual mailbox. There’s simply a better way to handle it now.

The solution is straightforward:

Instead of Gmail fetching your mail via POP, you set your hosting email to automatically redirect to Gmail.

It’s cleaner, faster, and more reliable.

Why Gmail Changed POP Retrieval

Gmail’s shift is largely about security and modern authentication standards. Older POP retrieval methods rely on basic username/password authentication, which doesn’t align with Google’s push toward OAuth and stricter mail security policies.

Rather than pulling mail from other servers, Google is encouraging users to either:

  • Use full Google Workspace hosting, or
  • Have third-party mail servers push email to Gmail instead.

That second option is exactly what we’ll set up.

The Better Method: Redirect from Roundcube to Gmail

If your email is hosted with us (or similar hosting), you’ll typically access webmail via Roundcube at something like (if you’re unsure refer to the original setup email you received):

https://www.yourdomain.co.nz/roundcube

From there, you can create a filter that automatically redirects all incoming mail to your Gmail address.

Below is the process (you can include the screenshot here to visually guide users).

Step-by-Step: Set Up Email Redirect in Roundcube

1. Log in to Roundcube Webmail
Go to your webmail URL and log in with your full email address and password.

2. Click “Settings” → “Filters”
On the left-hand side menu, choose Filters.

3. Create a New Filter
Click Create (usually top right).

4. Configure the Filter

Set it up like this:

  • Filter name: Forward to Gmail
  • Filter enabled: Yes
  • Scope: All messages
  • Action: Redirect message to → [email protected]

Then click Save.

That’s it.

From now on, every email received at your POP mailbox will immediately be forwarded to Gmail.

Important: Use “Redirect”, Not “Forward”

In Roundcube, make sure you choose Redirect message to, not just “Forward”.

Redirect preserves the original sender details properly and avoids deliverability issues. It ensures Gmail sees the message as coming directly from the original sender — not as something resent by your server.

Sending Email From Gmail (Using Your Domain Address)

You can still send emails from Gmail using your domain address (e.g. [email protected]). Nothing changes there.

In Gmail:

  1. Go to Settings → See all settings
  2. Open Accounts and Import
  3. Under Send mail as, click Add another email address
  4. Enter your name and your domain email address
  5. Choose Send through your SMTP server

Then use your hosting SMTP details:

  • SMTP server: mail.yourdomain.co.nz
  • Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS)
  • Username: Your full email address
  • Password: Your mailbox password
  • Secure connection: SSL or TLS

Once verified, Gmail will let you choose your domain address as the sender when composing email.

From the outside world, it will look exactly the same as before.

What This Means for You

Here’s the key reassurance:

  • You can still receive email from your POP account
  • You can still send email as your domain address
  • Your website hosting email remains fully functional
  • This method is often more reliable than Gmail’s old POP retrieval

In fact, redirecting from the server side is typically faster because the message is pushed instantly, rather than Gmail checking every 10–60 minutes.

A Quick Note on Deliverability

Because the email is being redirected directly from your hosting server:

  • SPF and DKIM authentication continue to work correctly
  • Messages are less likely to be delayed
  • There’s no dependency on Gmail polling your mailbox

It’s a cleaner setup overall.

If You’re Unsure

If this feels a bit technical, don’t worry. We’re happy to help configure it for you. Just send us your Gmail address and confirm which mailbox you’d like redirected.

These sorts of platform changes happen from time to time. The important thing is that there’s a stable workaround — and once set up, you probably won’t need to think about it again.

If you’d like help making the switch, just get in touch with us at www.pogostick.co.nz.

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