Configuring IMAP Based Gmail on Windows Mobile 6.1

  • Article

On Windows Mobile 6 phones, if you want to add Gmail to the email account list, there will be a wizard that automatically configures your Gmail account using POP3, which works fine.

However, as Google just enabled IMAP access for Gmail, you may want to switch over to IMAP because that way you can view the same set of folders/emails right on the server without downloading a local copy.

The problem is, how to bypass that automatic email setup wizard (it always sets up using POP3 once you entered your gmail account at the first step)?

Play this trick: when you are first prompted to enter your email address, just type in some garbage like aaa@bbb.com. Then you will not be forced to use that automatic setup wizard (POP3); instead, select IMAP as the account type, then manually type in IMAP server and SMTP server addresses as described here. After that, go back to the account settings, change your email address to the real one you use with Gmail.

Well, yes, there should be a better way of bypassing that wizard.

Update: It turns out on Windows Mobile 6, there is a box you can uncheck to disable 'Get Settings automatically from the Internet". On 6.1, however, no such option exisit.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 26, 2008
    PingBack from http://iworkwithcomputers.com/2008/06/26/windows-mobile-61-and-gmail-imap/

  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2008
    Yes, I noticed this too!  Good guide, I have been doing the same - what a great example of something completely counter-intuitive... ...another Microsoft triumph. C

  • Anonymous
    August 04, 2008
    This is just what I was looking for. Thanks!

  • Anonymous
    September 02, 2008
    Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! I am on my 4th ATT Tilt in 10 months do to problems with the phone.  New phone came with WM 6.1 already installed and I've been completely aggravated by the gmail problem for an hour.  Your back door fix corrected the problem and now I'm good to go.  Thanks again.

  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2008
    Finally got around to updating my TyTN II to WM 6.1. First thing I noticed was not being able to use IMAP on gmail. Disallowing any manual configuration at all is such a stupid thing for them to do. Thanks for the tip :)

  • Anonymous
    December 17, 2008
    Thanks, just what I was looking for. I should have guessed it would be something completely counter-intuitive ... haha.

  • Anonymous
    December 24, 2008
    I upgraded to WinMob6.1 and it would only allow me to auto setup Gmail.   I found a fix to get SMTP mail working for IMAP Gmail and to stop the annoying message.  You have to add ":25" to the end of smtp.gmail.com (smtp.gmail.com:25).  Follow all the other directions but just add the port to change the default port.   But first.....download the hotfix from Microsoft to allow manually changing email settings. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d9d71b2e-d2dd-44f2-86e5-1e53aad7fb7a&displaylang=en&tm

  • Anonymous
    April 03, 2009
    Up until now, I have not been able to get this to work. I have reset my phone, removed/added my account and verified settings over and over again. After MONTHS of trial and error and working with many ideas, I FINALLY found a combination of things that made it work and work well... Notes: ** If you created your account and tried to send a mail from your phone and it failed, you will need to delete the account!! This is very important!!**

  1. Remove your GMAIL IMAP account from your mobile device
  2. Download and install the following hotfix (your device will reboot when install has completed): -- http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/4/4/044e051d-a679-42ae-906b-778bbc7d86ce/WindowsMobile61-KB958639.CAB ---- The above link will take you directly to the download of the CAB file ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE!! ------ Here is the link to get it from your PC: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d9d71b2e-d2dd-44f2-86e5-1e53aad7fb7a&displaylang=en&tm
  3. Once installed and phone has been rebooted, create your GMAIL IMAP account fresh using the steps here: https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=78886
  4. Send a few test mails -- I have sent several mails now and no failures as before, I could either send one mail and fail, or send none at all. I have found that these steps worked on multiple phones with Windows Mobile 6.1. (Motorola Q9h (2 of them I have done this with) and an AT&T Tilt). Let me know how this works for everyone!
  • Anonymous
    July 22, 2009
    What is the interface like of Gmail on Windows Mobile 6.1?  Does it just look like your outlook folder? Or are emails grouped together by conversation similar to the gmaill app on BlackBerry which I run now and really like..... MB