Northern Arizona University

How do I set up my Gmail account on a third-party email client?

Setting up NAU Gmail on a third-party email client (i.e. Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc...) is a three-step process. However, you will need to make sure you know your username before you begin. Use your full email address (uid234@nau.edu) whenever your email client asks for your username (for more info see here).

1. Set up your Google password. By default, any new student to the University will have their NAU password and Google password synchronized (so you can skip this step). If you don't want your NAU and Google passwords synchronized, you will need to manually setup your Google password. Also, Faculty and Staff will not have their passwords synchronized by default. You can setup your Google password and/or choose to sync it by going to www.nau.edu/password. To learn more about your Google password, please visit this FAQ article.
2. (Optional) Re-authorize the Google captcha which can sometimes fix setup issues.
3. Set up your Gmail account on your email client:
   • IMAP instructions for individual email clients are located here.
   • POP instructions for individual email clients are located here.
   • Don't forget to use your full email address, including the part after the '@' symbol (which Google refers to as your domain name), as your username.

Notes:
IMAP will keep a copy of your email on the Gmail server so that if you loose information on your personal computer, your email will still be preserved on the Gmail server. POP downloads your messages from the Gmail server such that the only copy will be on your personal computer. For this reason, we recommend using IMAP when setting up email on a third-party email client.