Incoming E-mail notification on G-mail

[Wagonmaster2]

I just set up a  G-mail account for my wife on her Windows 7 HP laptop.  I'm using Windows Mail with Vista on mine since it was there when I purchased it new several years ago.  On mine when a new e-mail comes in I get a verbal tone plus a little envelope symbol in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

What kind of notification will she get on her computer when "she has mail"?  G-mail is very different from what I'm used to so it will be somewhat of  a  learning curve for me to be able to teach her how to use it.  Course it's going to be kind of "the blind leading the blind"  and she uses the computer much less than I do.  Her goal is mainly for e-mail communication between her and an elderly aunt  a State away from us.

Thanks for any help from the experts.

 

[SeilerBird]

Using Gmail is a very different experience from using a client based email program. Gmail resides on the Internet, not on your computer. There is no notification from Gmail when email arrives if you are not connected to the Internet. If you are connected to the Internet and your browser is open and Gmail has an active Tab then the tab will change from "Inbox - your email address" to "Inbox (1) - your email address" with (1) being the number of new emails in your inbox.

If you are using Chrome as your browser you can get desktop notifications:

http://email.about.com/od/gmailtips/qt/How-To-Get-New-Mail-Notifications-For-Gmail.htm

If she has an Android phone then it will ring a bell when email arrives.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Gmail does offer POP and IMAP forwarding so you can set it up to send mail through your normal mail program (Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc.) instead of using their web interface.

Look under Settings while you're in the web mailbox.

 

[Ned]

There are addons for some browsers that will give a popup and/or sound notifications when new Gmail arrives as long as the browser is open.  One such is Gmail Notifier for Chrome, I don't know if that one is available for Firefox too.

 

[mylo]

Installing Google Talk (regardless if you are going to use it) will give you popup email notifications (that disappear after 5 seconds or so) - similar to Outlook. It runs in the taskbar on the bottom. There is also a "new email count", if you miss the popup - just by hovering over the GTalk icon.


Mylo

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I get my Gmail wherever and however I want it - via my email client of the desktop (I use PocoMail), on my Droid smartphone, or on either of our two tablets. There is no need to see or send your Gmail messages any different than any other mail service.

Follow the instructions in the email software for setting up an account. The information you need, e.g. pop, imap or smtp server names, is available at gmail.com.

 

[Wizard46]

I  have the exact same system as you and use Mozilla Thunderbird and have two G-Mail accounts. I get a beep and a little message in the lower right hand corner of the screen when a new e-mail comes in.

 

[Ned]

Most of these "solutions" require a separate email client program.  Most Gmail users are only using the browser to access their mail so POP and IMAP, Thunderbird, etc. are of no help.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The point is, if you wish to use a particular email client, e.g. Windows Mail, because you like its features, it is no more difficult to set it up for a Gmail account than for any other mail service account. 

 

[Ned]

Since the original post didn't specify if the user is viewing in the browser (most likely) or using a client program, either none or all or some of the solutions may or may not be applicable

 

[therealsimpsons]

The point is, if you wish to use a particular email client, e.g. Windows Mail, because you like its features, it is no more difficult to set it up for a Gmail account than for any other mail service account. 

I have a new laptop that has Windows Live mail. I tried to set up my Gmail on there, and it will not work. Obviously, it should work, but I'm doing something wrong. How do I determine if it should be POP or IMAP? My server on Windows Live mail is comcast at home. When I set incoming and outgoing to SSL, the avast comes up and says to uncheck that, it will do it for me (??). Also, recently, due to some hacking going on, Comcast changed its ports. Are they the same for IMAP as POP3?

I would appreciate any help, thank you.

Stan

 

[Ned]

The choice of POP3 or IMAP is this:  POP3 always downloads your email for local storage, optionally leaving it on the server.  IMAP lets you read your email on the server, optionally downloading it for local storage.  For cloud based email services, like Gmail, IMAP is almost always the better choice as it allow for reading from multiple devices.

The ports for POP3 and IMAP are not the same, and the secure ports are different from the non-secure ports.  Gmail has detailed instructions for setting up access from various client programs, see the Gmail help for more.  Also, see the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" section of the Gmail settings.

Comcast ports are only applicable if you're using the Comcast SMTP and POP3 (or IMAP) server.  You can ignore the Comcast SMTP server and use the Gmail server (and ports) for all email sending.

 

[mylo]

The choice of POP3 or IMAP is this:  POP3 always downloads your email for local storage, optionally leaving it on the server.  IMAP lets you read your email on the server, optionally downloading it for local storage.  For cloud based email services, like Gmail, IMAP is almost always the better choice as it allow for reading from multiple devices.

The ports for POP3 and IMAP are not the same, and the secure ports are different from the non-secure ports.  Gmail has detailed instructions for setting up access from various client programs, see the Gmail help for more.  Also, see the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" section of the Gmail settings.

Comcast ports are only applicable if you're using the Comcast SMTP and POP3 (or IMAP) server.  You can ignore the Comcast SMTP server and use the Gmail server (and ports) for all email sending.

Let me build on what Ned said. I always choose IMAP, if possible. That way, if I read or delete an email on one device (or browser), when I go to another device that is set up with the same account - the status persists and the same email is "read" or deleted.


Mylo

 

[therealsimpsons]

Thank you, Ned. It works now. All of my email comes on the Comcast/Windows Live now.

Stan

 

[Ned]

Make a record of those settings so you will have them if you need to set it up again in the future, say on a new computer.  Screen prints of the various settings windows are good for this.