Google officially announced plans to discontinue one core Gmail power user feature. Starting January 2027, users will no longer be able to use the "Send as" feature and use Gmail to send emails from third-party services such as Yahoo, Outlook, etc.
Google is killing the "Send as" feature
Google has decided to end support for the "Send as" feature. It's a cool option if you own a bunch of mail addresses on different platforms. Google says the change affects both the web version of Gmail and the mobile app.
Important: Starting January 2027, Gmail will no longer support the “Send as” feature for third-party email addresses, such as @yahoo.com or @outlook.com. This change does not affect Google Workspace aliases or other Gmail addresses you own.
- Google support blog
According to the official post on Google's dedicated support page, the reason for the discontinuation of the legacy "Send as" feature is that it requires "disproportionate maintenance resources."
In our ongoing commitment to ensuring Gmail remains secure, smart, and easy-to-use, we occasionally have the difficult choice to discontinue features that require disproportionate maintenance resources. To that end, we are making changes to how Gmail handles third-party email accounts.
- Google support blog
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In order to access your third-party mail from 2027 onward, you will need a dedicated mail client or a desktop app.
Are you currently using the "Send as" feature in Gmail?
Gmailify & POP on the web are going as well
Google timeline for the depreciation of the Send me feature. | Image by Google
Support for Gmailify and POP on the web is also ending this year. Gmailify allows you to use some Gmail features in your third-party mail. These include spam filters, labels, and other inbox organizer tools.
POP is another way you can fetch third-party mail and send it into your Gmail. This one will stop working on January 1, 2027, as well. Google also says that prior to the deadline it will restrict new configurations of the POP feature.
Google Workspace “Send as” functionality is not affected
Google Workspace accounts will continue to be able to use the Send as feature. | Image by Google
The interesting thing here is that Google will continue to support all those features in Google Workspace accounts.
You can continue to use "Send as" for any Google-hosted identities, including other Gmail addresses or aliases associated with your Google Workspace account. The discontinuation will not impact these addresses
- Google support blog
Apparently, the company is happy to keep allocating maintenance resources to paid subscription accounts. And that's understandable, to some extent, but people are furious.
Gmail users are not happy
The Google announcement has angered many people, who use Gmail as a mail hub for all their addresses. Many people voiced their disappointment on Reddit, suggesting that Google pushes users toward paid subscription services such as Google Workspace and Google One. Some users even say they plan to leave Gmail.
This is massive for me. I use Gmail as my primary mail client, so that my personal and business mail is in one place. If I can’t use Gmail as a client for my own domains anymore, I have to find an entirely new way. It’s not the end of the world, things change. But it will mean the end of using Gmail for me, and that’s going to be so strange after over 20 years of using it.
- Reddit user AppendixN
There is still time, however, to look for alternatives. Mail clients and desktop apps such as Thunderbird are part of the alternatives, but this would mean leaving Gmail and migrating to another app, if you want to use a single mail client. Thunderbird supports multi-account setups via standard IMAP/POP protocols, and you can include your Gmail account as well, but it's a change many people won't be happy to make.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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