Trouble adding gmail to outlook 2021

Question

Trouble adding gmail to outlook 2021

Diane Hesselgrave 20

I have MS Office Home & Business 2021 which includes Outlook on Windows 11 which I am using at home. I am trying to add a gmail address to Outlook and it is not working. When I try to set it up automatically, it doesn't work. So I chose to set it up manually. When I choose Google in the options, I get the message: "We weren't able to set up your Google account with IMAP. You may need to make changes to your Gmail settings. Then I chose "change account settings". The screen was filled in with the correct IMAP settings for incoming and outgoing. I changed the incoming to the pop settings it says: "It looks like you entered incorrect settings for the incoming (IMAP) server. Please check the incoming (IMAP) server setting in Account Settings and try again.

Why isn't Outlook allowing me to add the gmail account and how can I add it? Any solution is greatly welcomed as I have been fighting with this for a few days with the same outcome every time. Outlook is the only program that I like any email on.

I don't know if I have Classic or New Outlook for Windows and when searching the difference, it says to check the toggle switch on the upper right corner of the program and I don't find that.

Thank you.

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Jeronimo Fuerte 34,050 Independent Advisor

Hi! The issue is usually authentication, not the mail server names themselves. Google no longer allows old-style basic username/password sign-ins for Gmail with POP/IMAP in the same way as before, except in limited cases where an app password is used and app passwords are only available if 2-Step Verification is turned on, and they are typically only needed when the app doesn’t offer “Sign in with Google.”

Open Credential Manager in Windows and remove the Gmail-related entries that start with MicrosoftOffice16_Data:OAUTH2, then try adding the account again and make sure to allow Microsoft access during the browser sign-in.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/unable-to-add-a-gmail-account-to-classic-outlook-4d9530c5-3f40-4e6d-9b45-4477f160828f

If this doesn't work, you need to make some changes to your security on the Gmail side.

Diane Hesselgrave 20 Reputation points

2026-03-03T17:36:25.8166667+00:00

I just saw your response this morning as Outlook sent it to spam! I neglected to mention that I had accidentally deleted the email address from Outlook. I followed the instructions in the link you gave in the support article. I had 2 gmail addresses in Outlook and now have one. I went to the credential portion and it shows 4 entries but do not show the user name. I found the correct one in the Registry address the article provided and deleted the 2 entries in the credentials.

I went back to Outlook to add the gmail address manually, made sure the imap addresses were correct, and it took me to enter a password. I was thrilled as I hadn't gotten that far previously. I entered the password for the account and it gave another error. I then created an app password for the account but can't get to where it wants the password again.

So I am still not able to get there.
Diane Hesselgrave 20 Reputation points

2026-03-03T19:03:21.55+00:00

I don't know what changed, but I was finally able to add the gmail account to Outlook. I finally closed Outlook and waited a bit. When I opened it, I went to add the gmail and when I chose Google when setting it up, it went to Microsoft for me to allow the gmail account. When I finished that, it set it up!!

I guess it just needed to be closed to clear something out? Your original link to identify and delete the items in Credential Manager were a huge part of the solution.

Thank you very much!!!

Share via

Trouble adding gmail to outlook 2021

0 additional answers

Your answer