How To Use Google's SMTP Server

A little-known feature about Gmail and Google Apps email is Google's portable SMTP server. This allows you to send email from their mail server, from most anywhere, as long as you have a legitimate Gmail account with username and password.

Google's SMTP server requires authentication, so here's how to set it up:

SMTP server (i.e., outgoing mail): smtp.gmail.com
SMTP username: Your full Gmail or Google Apps email address (e.g. example@yourdomain.com)
SMTP password: Your Gmail or Google Apps email password
SMTP port: 465
SMTP TLS/SSL required: yes

In order to store a copy of outgoing emails in your Gmail or Google Apps Sent folder, log into your Gmail or Google Apps email Settings and: Click on the Forwarding/IMAP tab and scroll down to the IMAP Access section: IMAP must be enabled in order for emails to be properly copied to your sent folder

NOTE: Google automatically rewrites the From line of any email you send via its SMTP server to the default Send mail as email address in your Gmail or Google Apps email account Settings. You need to be aware of this nuance because it affects the presentation of your email, from the point of view of the recepient, and it may also affect the Reply-To setting of some programs.

Workaround: In your Google email Settings, go to the Accounts tab/section and make "default" an account other than your Gmail/Google Apps account. This will cause Google's SMTP server to re-write the From field with whatever address you enabled as the default Send mail as address. Sending Limits

Google limits the amount of mail a user can send via its portable SMTP server. This limit restricts the number of messages sent per day to 99 emails; and the restriction is automatically removed within 24 hours after the limit was reached.