How can I receive emails from my LWS address in Gmail?

Procédure

Do you want to view the messages received on your LWS email address from Gmail? The old method that allowed Gmail web to retrieve emails from an external mailbox using the POP protocol is being progressively removed by Google.

Depending on your needs, you can now redirect your new messages to Gmail, add your LWS mailbox in the Gmail mobile app, or configure sending from your LWS address in Gmail web.

Which solution should you choose?

Choose the method that matches the result you want to obtain.

• Receive new messages in your main Gmail inbox: create a redirection to your Gmail address.
• View all folders in your LWS mailbox in the Gmail app: add the address as an IMAP account.
• Send messages from Gmail web with your LWS address: add the address in the “Send mail as” section.
• Fully manage your mailbox on a computer: configure it in Outlook, Thunderbird, or Mail.

A redirection and an IMAP configuration do not work in the same way. Redirection only forwards new messages to Gmail. An IMAP configuration lets you access the LWS mailbox directly, with its folders and read status, like a separate account.

Before you start

If your address already exists as a real mailbox, do not delete it to replace it with a simple redirection. You could lose the messages stored there.

To keep your LWS mailbox while also receiving a copy of new messages in Gmail, create a filter from Roundcube instead.

To use the Gmail app with IMAP or send from Gmail web with your LWS address, you must also have:

• your full LWS email address;
• the password for this address;
• the IMAP and SMTP settings shown on the LWS Panel or on cPanel.

Receive new LWS messages in your Gmail inbox

Redirection is the solution closest to Gmail’s old POP retrieval. Each new message sent to your LWS address is automatically forwarded to your Gmail address.

The method to use depends on whether or not a real LWS mailbox exists.

The LWS address does not yet exist as a mailbox

You can create a simple redirection.

For example, you can create the address contact@votredomaine.fr and forward all received messages to votreadresse@gmail.com.

A simple redirection does not have an inbox. Messages are only forwarded to Gmail and no copy is kept at LWS.

To set it up, see the help: How do I create an email redirection with the LWS Panel?

If your plan uses cPanel, see instead: How do I create an email redirection in cPanel?

The LWS address already exists as a mailbox

If you already use this address in Roundcube, Outlook, Thunderbird, or on another device, keep the mailbox and create a redirection filter from Roundcube.

You can choose between two actions:

• Send a copy of the email to: the message remains in the LWS mailbox and a copy is sent to Gmail ;
• Forward the email to: the message is forwarded to Gmail without remaining visible in the LWS mailbox.

To keep your messages at LWS, choose the action Send a copy of the email to.

See the help:

How do I create a filter in Roundcube webmail?

Check redirection to Gmail

After creating the redirection:

1. Send a test email to your LWS address from another address.
2. Wait a few minutes.
3. Open your Gmail inbox.
4. Check the inbox as well as the Spam, Promotions, and All Mail folders.

Add your LWS address in the Gmail app

You can add your LWS mailbox in the Gmail app on Android, iPhone, or iPad using the IMAP protocol.

This method lets you read and send emails from your LWS address in the app. However, the LWS mailbox remains separate from your main Gmail inbox.

Send emails from Gmail web with your LWS address

The removal of POP retrieval does not prevent using Gmail’s Send mail as feature.

This setup lets you compose a message in Gmail web while displaying your LWS address as the sender. It uses your LWS mailbox’s SMTP server and remains separate from receiving messages.

To add your sending address:

1. Open Gmail on a computer.
2. Click the Settings icon, then See all settings.
   
3. Open the Accounts and Import tab.
   
4. In the Send mail as section, click Add another email address.
5. Enter the name that will be displayed to your recipients.
   
6. Enter your full LWS email address.
7. Leave the box "treat as an alias" checked.
8. Click Next Step.
9. Enter the SMTP server indicated in your LWS customer area.
   
10. Use your full email address as the username.
11. Enter the mailbox password.
12. Select the port and secure connection indicated in the LWS configuration settings.
13. Click Add Account.

Gmail then sends a validation message to your LWS address. Open this message, then click the confirmation link or enter the code received in Gmail.

Once the address is validated, you will be able to select it in the From field when composing a message.

Verify the sending address

1. Compose a new message in Gmail.
2. Click the address displayed in the From field.
3. Select your LWS address.
4. Send the message to another address you can access.
5. Check that the LWS address appears as the sender.

Common problems

I do not see the “Add a mail account” button

This button belonged to the POP retrieval feature that Google is progressively removing. You cannot make it reappear from Gmail settings.

Use a redirection to receive new messages in your main Gmail inbox, or add the LWS mailbox in the Gmail app with IMAP.

The old POP retrieval still works in my account

Configurations created before the removal may continue to work temporarily, until January 2027 according to Google’s announced schedule.

Set up a redirection or an IMAP configuration before the final shutdown to avoid an interruption in receiving messages.

What happens to messages already imported into Gmail?

Messages retrieved before the feature is removed remain in Gmail. Only the automatic retrieval of new messages is removed.

Forwarded messages do not arrive in Gmail

First check:

• that the destination Gmail address does not contain an error ;
• that the message is not in the Spam folder ;
• that the redirection uses the correct LWS address ;
• that the LWS mailbox normally receives messages.

Also send a test to the LWS address from several senders. If some messages arrive and others do not, Gmail may filter them according to its anti-spam rules.

The messages arrive in Gmail, but my replies leave with my Gmail address

A redirection only concerns receiving. To reply with your LWS address, configure it in the Send mail as section with its SMTP server.

When composing the message, also check the address selected in the From field.

I want to keep the same folders on all my devices

A redirection does not synchronize folders.

Add the LWS mailbox with IMAP in the Gmail app, Outlook, Thunderbird, or Mail. The folders and read status will then be synchronized with the LWS server.

Gmail rejects my LWS address password

Check that:

• you are using the email address password and not the password for your LWS customer area ;
• the username matches the full email address ;
• the incoming or outgoing server exactly matches the one shown in your customer area ;
• SMTP authentication is enabled.

If in doubt, change the mailbox password from your customer area, then repeat the configuration.