Easy-Email

This article explains how to setup an IMAP account in Outlook 2003 for email synchronization. You will be guided through modifying your existing accounts (if you have any), applying the latest updates for Outlook 2003 and configuring Outlook 2003 to synchronize with Gmail.

At this point you should have completed the setup of Gmail for email synchronization.

 

Synchronize your Outlook 2003 email on all your computers! Automatically!

Watch the quick video at synchronize Outlook.

 

FREE GUIDE available - get started with the Easy-Email system today!

 

Important! If you have not done so already please read the article “Naughty Outlook”.

Important! Backup your emails before you start! Easy-Email does not accept responsibility for any data loss under any circumstance.

Modify existing accounts (POP)

If you already have email accounts setup in Outlook 2003 we need to ensure they leave new email in the mailbox on the mail server for one day.

Gmail is also downloading email from the same mailbox, so Outlook 2003 will have to leave the email on the mail server long enough for Gmail to get hold of a copy too. Gmail automatically checks your mailboxes for new mail once every hour. If a new email arrives in your mailbox and Outlook 2003 downloads and removes the email from the mailbox before Gmail gets to it you will not see that email in Gmail and it will not be synchronized with your other email clients.

This modification does not change the way your current email setup works.

Do the following for each Outlook 2003 account that downloads email from a mailbox:

Note! Click on the images to see a larger version.

• Go to Tools → E-mail accounts...

• Select View or change existing e-mail accounts.
  Click Next.

• Select your existing email account.
  Click Change.
  

• Click More settings...
  

• Go to the Advanced tab.
  Check Leave a copy of messages on the server.
  Check Remove from server after 10 days.
  Change the setting to 1 day.
  1 day is more than sufficient for Gmail to pick up new emails.
  Click OK.
  

• To close the account settings window again:
  Click Next.
  Click Finish.

Apply the latest updates to Outlook 2003

The earliest releases of Outlook 2003 had some technical issues. To avoid any complications please start by applying the latest updates to the product. At the time of writing Microsoft Office Service Pack 3 is the latest update (includes Outlook 2003 update).

You can find it here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/default.aspx.

Towards the bottom of the window you will find the update.

Download and install the update.

Note! The download time shown is for a dial up connection.

 

Create a new email account in Outlook 2003 to access Gmail

Gmail will now pick up your email for you. This step tells Outlook 2003 to synchronize with Gmail so you can download copies of your emails.

Note! If you have more than one email address work with the email address you use most often in this section. For John Doe this is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Setting up multiple email addresses is explained in the Advanced Guides.

Follow these steps:

• Start Outlook 2003.
  

• Click Tools → Email Accounts...
  

• Select Add a new e-mail account.
  Click Next.
  

• Select IMAP.
  Click Next.
  

• Enter the following information:
  For Your Name enter your name, for John that is John Doe.
  For E-mail Address enter your email address, which for John is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
  For Incoming mail server (IMAP) enter imap.gmail.com.
  For Outgoing mail server (SMTP) enter smtp.gmail.com.
  For User Name enter your Gmail address, for john this is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
  For Password enter your Gmail password.
  Click More Settings...
  

• On the general tab enter a descriptive name for the mail account.
  For John we enter My Mail (IMAP).
  

• Click on the Outgoing Server tab.
  Check My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.
  

• Click on the Advanced tab.
  For Incoming server (IMAP) check This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL). This will automatically change the number in the box above to 993.
  For Outgoing server (SMTP) check This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL).
  Change Outgoing server (SMTP) port to 465.
  Click OK.
  

• Click Next, then Finish.
  

• Your mail is synchronized with Gmail.
  

• With the current position of the reading pane it is difficult to get an overview of the emails in the inbox. We will move the pane to the bottom of the window. This is optional.
  Click on View → Reading Pane → Bottom.
  

• Select the [Gmail] → Sent Mail folder.
  You will notice that the sent folder view includes From and Received columns instead of To and Sent. What you need to see here is who you sent emails to and when you sent them.
  

• Click on View → Arrange By → Current View → Customize Current View...
  

• Click on Fields...
  

• Add To and Sent and place To under From and place Sent under Received.
  

• Remove From and Received.
  

• Click OK twice to get back to the main Outlook window.
  Now we have the correct columns.
  

More stuff you can do

In the appendix you will find more interesting information on how to get the most out of your email:

• Backup and restore your emails
  We strongly recommend you backup your emails before you setup Easy-Email.
  This section explains how you do this. And it explains how you restore your emails if you should need to do that.

• Download emails to Outlook 2003 for offline use
  This section explains how to make your emails available for use without an internet connection. You will be able to read and respond to emails on a plane or train for instance. Once you get an internet connection again your emails will be sent.

• Copy old emails to Gmail from Outlook 2003
  This section explains how you can copy your old emails from Outlook 2003 to Gmail. This will make the emails available to any client you synchronize with Gmail.

• Turn off your old email account
  You have setup email synchronization without making changes to your old email setup. This allows you to try out Easy-Email without affecting the way you manage your email today.
  This section explains how to phase out your old email setup once you are comfortable with Easy-Email.

• Export contacts from Outlook 2003
  If you have contacts stored on Outlook 2003 that you want to copy to other email clients this section explains how you do this.

• Import contacts into Outlook 2003
  If want to copy contacts stored on other email clients to Outlook 2003 this section explains how you do this.

• Create a signature in Outlook 2003
  This section explains how you create a signature in Outlook 2003

• Group messages by thread in Outlook 2003
  If you like the way Gmail organizes emails in threads or conversations this section explains how you can get a similar view in Outlook 2003.

• How to find your mail server settings
  If you do not know your mail server settings this section explains where you can locate this information in your current setup.

And that completes the setup of Outlook 2003 for email synchronization.

If you would like help with synchronizing Outlook 2003 on multiple computers you can download and follow the Easy-Email Essential Guide. See how this brilliantly simple solution will simplify your life by watching the quick video at synchronize Outlook.

From our testing of Outlook 2010, it appears that Microsoft has ironed out many of the issues we found in Outlook 2007 and 2003. We recommend you consider upgrading to Outlook 2010.