Google to remove Gmail feature that merges secondary inboxes into one view

Google to Phase Out Gmailify and POP Access, Impacting Third-Party Email Integration

Google is ending support for two long-standing features that allow users to manage external email accounts through Gmail, a move that will affect those who integrate services like Outlook and Yahoo into their Google inboxes.

The company announced it will stop supporting new users for its Gmailify and POP access features starting in the first quarter of 2026. Existing users will lose access to these tools by the end of 2026.

Google did not specify a reason for the change, though the move is widely viewed as an effort to simplify the Gmail interface and encourage deeper engagement within Google’s own ecosystem.

Launched in 2016, Gmailify allowed users to apply Google’s signature spam filters and smart organization tools to non-Google accounts. The Post Office Protocol (POP) is an older industry standard for accessing and downloading email.

Users can still add external accounts to the Gmail mobile app using the standard IMAP protocol. However, these accounts will no longer benefit from Gmailify’s enhanced features and will not be supported on the web version of Gmail.

Google’s decision to sunset Gmailify and POP access on its web interface marks more than a routine technical update; it is a calculated maneuver to fortify the company’s "walled garden." By dismantling the bridges that previously integrated rival services like Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo Mail directly into the Gmail dashboard, Alphabet Inc. is pivoting away from the concept of a centralized communications hub in favor of total ecosystem dependency.

For power users and professionals who leveraged Gmail as a unified command center, this shift introduces significant operational friction. The move effectively forces a choice: migrate to third-party desktop clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird, or manage the inefficiency of toggling between multiple browser tabs. This reflects a broader, more aggressive trend across the technology sector, where dominant platforms are tightening restrictions on cross-platform interoperability to deepen user lock-in.

From a strategic standpoint, maintaining legacy protocols like POP on a modern web stack likely offers diminishing returns on investment for Google. While the company has preserved IMAP access for mobile applications—acknowledging the primacy of the mobile experience—the restrictions on the web interface are clearly designed to funnel desktop users back into a proprietary, "pure" Gmail environment. Ultimately, what the company frames as technical simplification serves to diminish user autonomy and platform flexibility in order to consolidate its market position.

This shift is set to impact small business owners across the Vietnamese-American community, from the shops in Little Saigon to the broader nail salon industry. Many entrepreneurs have traditionally used free Gmail accounts to conveniently manage multiple professional aliases—such as [email protected]—directly through the web interface. The removal of this feature will force a change in daily workflows, likely pushing owners to switch to dedicated desktop email applications or migrate to paid professional services like Google Workspace.