My inbox isn't populating in the New Outlook. Not synching with gmail.

Question

I switched to the New Outlook because Classic stopped receiving and sending emails. My inbox in the New Outlook is not populating with messages. It's not syncing with Google Workspace.

Answer 1

@Jean Bias said

I switched to the New Outlook because Classic stopped receiving and sending emails.

There is a known bug with Classic Outlook and GMail Accounts, but there is a simple workaround.

See the Answer by "Hornblower409 Mar 21, 2026, 10:23 AM" in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5830260/reinstalling-gmail-in-classic-outlook

You can also look in the Classic Outlook Sync Issues folders. There is often information there that will point you to the problem.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5687493/outlook-how-to-view-and-cleanup-sync-error-folder

If this is not your problem with Classic Outlook and Google Workspaces, please give us some more details on the problem. e.g. Any error messages?

One way or another, I'm fairly confident that we can get your Classic Outlook/Google Workspaces working again.

Answer 2

Dear @Jean Bias,

First of all, I want to begin by sincerely apologizing for the frustration and inconvenience this issue has caused you.

Before going into settings, confirm Outlook can actually reach Gmail’s servers. Open a browser and go to gmail.com if it loads and you can sign in, Gmail’s servers are up and your internet connection is fine. If gmail.com won’t load, the issue is your internet connection rather than the Gmail-Outlook configuration.

Also check workspace.google.com/status for any active Gmail service disruptions. If Gmail’s IMAP or SMTP services are listed as degraded, the sync failure is on Google’s end and will resolve on its own.

In the meantime, please help me review and check these steps to narrow down the problem:  

1.Verify IMAP is enabled in Gmail/Google Workspace

Outlook relies entirely on IMAP for Gmail sync.

• Sign in to Gmail in a web browser
• Go to Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP
• Under IMAP access, make sure Enable IMAP is selected
• Save changes

If IMAP is off, New Outlook will show an empty inbox.

2.If your Google account uses 2‑Step Verification

If 2FA is enabled:

• Google may block Outlook unless an App Password or proper OAuth permission is used.
• Authentication failures can appear as “connected but not syncing”.

This is a frequent cause for accounts that used to work and then stopped

To generate an App Password:

Go to myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. You may need to sign in. Select Mail from the app dropdown and Windows Computer (or your device type) from the device dropdown. Click Generate. Google shows a 16-character password copy it immediately as it won’t be shown again.

In Outlook, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings, select your Gmail account, click Change, and replace your regular password with the App Password. Click Next and let Outlook test the connection.

3.If Gmail was added to Outlook manually rather than through the automatic setup, incorrect server settings are a frequent cause of sync failures. Outlook needs specific server addresses and port numbers to connect to Gmail correctly.

The correct Gmail settings for Outlook are:

Incoming mail (IMAP):

• Server: imap.gmail.com
• Port: 993
• Encryption: SSL/TLS

Outgoing mail (SMTP):

• Server: smtp.gmail.com
• Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS/STARTTLS)
• Encryption: SSL/TLS or STARTTLS

4.Re-Authenticate the Gmail Account in Outlook

Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings. Select your Gmail account and click Change. Outlook will prompt you to sign in through Google’s standard login page sign in with your Gmail credentials and grant Outlook the permissions it requests. This generates a fresh OAuth token and restores the sync connection.

5.Remove and re‑add the Gmail account in New Outlook

If the permission was missed previously, simply toggling settings won’t fix it.

In New Outlook:

• Go to Settings > Accounts > Email accounts
• Remove the Google Workspace/Gmail account
• Add it again > choose Google / Gmail
• Complete browser sign‑in
• Explicitly confirm the full mailbox access permission

6.Check Gmail’s Sync Settings for Labels

Go to gmail.com > Settings > See All Settings > Labels. For each label you want to appear in Outlook, make sure Show in IMAP is checked. The inbox, sent mail, and important labels should all have IMAP enabled for Outlook to sync them correctly.

7.Firewall and Antivirus Blocking the Connection

Temporarily disable your antivirus’s email scanning feature not the full antivirus and test whether Gmail syncs in Outlook. If it does, the antivirus is interfering. Add Outlook and Gmail’s server addresses to the antivirus exclusions list to allow the connection through without scanning.

Also check Windows Firewall > Allow an App or feature through Windows Defender Firewall and confirm Outlook has both Private and Public network access checked.

Note: Please note that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution. 

Your understanding and co-operation are highly appreciated. Thank you for your precious time. I am looking forward to your response!

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Answer 3

New Outlook uses the same underlying account connectivity as classic Outlook, so issues with Gmail/Google Workspace often come from the Gmail side (IMAP/auth) or from how the account was granted access.

Follow these targeted checks and fixes:

1. Confirm internet connectivity
   • In a browser (Edge/Chrome), open http://www.microsoft.com and http://www.bing.com.
   • If these do not load, resolve the network issue first using the Windows network troubleshooter as described in Fix network connection issues in Windows.
2. Check for general sync issues in Outlook
   • In Outlook, verify that other accounts (if any) can send/receive.
   • If only the Google Workspace account is affected, the problem is specific to that account’s connection.
3. Verify Gmail/Google Workspace IMAP and security settings
   • The error described in the context for Gmail (“We weren’t able to set up your Google account with IMAP. You may need to make changes to your Gmail settings.”) can occur if IMAP is disabled in Gmail or if Google has not granted Outlook the required access.
   • In Google Workspace/Gmail settings (via the browser), ensure IMAP is enabled as described in Google’s “Add Gmail to another email client” guidance.
4. Re‑grant Outlook access to Gmail via browser sign‑in
   • When adding or fixing a Gmail/Google Workspace account in Outlook, the browser sign‑in must include the permission:
     • “Read, compose, send, and permanently delete all your email from Gmail.” under Microsoft apps & services can access.
   • If this box was not checked when the account was first added, Outlook may connect but not sync the mailbox correctly.
   • On current Outlook builds that include the fix, use the Retry option on the error window (if shown) to repeat the browser sign‑in and this time check that permission box.
5. If sync still fails, remove and re‑add the Gmail account in Outlook
   • Remove the Google Workspace account from New Outlook.
   • Add the account again:
     • Choose Gmail/Google account type.
     • Complete the browser sign‑in.
     • When prompted for what Microsoft apps & services can access, ensure the option to Read, compose, send, and permanently delete all your email from Gmail is selected.
6. If using classic Outlook profile in parallel
   • If classic Outlook is still configured with the same Gmail account and not syncing, it may be affected by the same permission/IMAP issue described above.
   • After fixing IMAP and re‑granting permissions via browser sign‑in, classic Outlook should also be able to sync again, provided it is on a build that includes the Gmail sign‑in fix.

If, after these steps, the inbox in New Outlook still does not populate, verify with Google Workspace admin that there are no additional security policies blocking IMAP/OAuth access for Outlook clients.

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References:

• I can't send or receive messages in Outlook
• Unable to sign in or add a Gmail account to classic Outlook
• Unable to add a Gmail account to classic Outlook