Gmail SMTP Settings

Types of accounts and their SMTP settings

Gmail is the most used email service with more than 1.8 Billion Active users as of 2024. It has two types of accounts. A normal Gmail account and G-Suite account which is used by companies for employee’s unique Gmail accounts.

Example: John’s email address, who is working at a company named ABC, is [email protected] and his account is owned and administrated by the company itself. Then there are Gmail accounts which are under some restrictions laid out by their G-Suite administrator and they are called Restricted Gmail Accounts.

Following are the SMTP settings for every type of Gmail Account there is:

Gmail SMTP Settings

Server Address: smtp.gmail.com
Username: Your Gmail Address (e.g. [email protected])
Password: Your Gmail Password
Port Number: 587 (With TLS)
Alternative Port Number: 465 (With SSL)
Internet Protocol: Dynamic IPs Allowed
Sending Limits: A registered G Suite user can’t relay messages to more than 10,000 recipients per day.

G-suite relay SMTP Settings

Server Address: smtp-relay.gmail.com
Username: Your Gmail Address (e.g. [email protected])
Password: Your Gmail Password
Port Number: 587 (With TLS), 465 (With SSL) and 25 (with TLS/SSL)
Internet Protocol: One or more static IP addresses are required.
Sending Limits: 2,000 Messages per day.

Restricted Gmail SMTP Settings

Server Address: aspmx.l.google.com
Username: Your Gmail Address (e.g. [email protected])
Password: Your Gmail Password
Port Number: 25 (TLS not required)
Internet Protocol: Dynamic IPs allowed
Restriction: Email can only be sent to Gmail or G Suite users.
Sending Limits: Per user receiving limits apply. This option restricts sending messages to Gmail or G Suite users only.

An added layer of security called “Less secure apps”

To make Gmail more secure, Google has added an extra layer of protection to Gmail accounts. When a third party server tries to read or enter into your Gmail account and it gets blocked by Google servers if their security is not upto Google’s level.
So, before you go on and start the configuration, make sure that Less Secure Apps option is enabled for the desired account in Gmail.
Generally, it is not recommended to enable “Less Secure Apps” option as it comes with certain risks to your Gmail account. So, it is advisable to use this when no other option is available.
To enable Less Secure Apps, You can visit this link. It will look something like this:

There is one other catch. And for security reasons, if you have enabled Google's "Two Step Verification" process for your Gmail account then you won't be able to enable the option of “Less Secure Apps”.
With "Two Step Verification" option enabled, the "Less Secure Apps" page will look something like this:

To enable "Less Secure Apps", You will have to disable "Two Step Verification" for your Gmail account. After that, you can easily enable the "Less Secure Apps" option.