How to Use Gmail as Your Primary Email Client with a BizHarvest Business Email Address

If you're looking to streamline your email management by using Gmail as your primary email client while maintaining your BizHarvest business email address (your-email-address@your-domain.com), you're in the right place. By setting up an external account within Gmail, you can conveniently manage your business emails alongside your personal ones. This setup not only allows you to receive emails sent to your domain’s address within Gmail but also enables you to send emails from Gmail using your domain’s email address. Follow the steps below to integrate your BizHarvest business email with Gmail.

Things to Consider Before Choosing to Utilize Gmail as Your Email Client

Limited Backup: Since email will be pulled into Gmail using POP3 protocols, email may not be available on our servers at time of backup. (see Prepare Your BizHarvest Business Account to see how to minimize this)
Limited Storage and Delivery Issues: Since you are using Gmail as your email client and Gmail only pulls email into it (does not sync), your email box may become too full and email deliverability may not be possible. (see Prepare Your BizHarvest Business Account to see how to minimize this)
Risk of Data Loss: There's a small risk of losing emails if there are problems during the synchronization process, especially if the "leave messages on the server" option is not enabled or if there are connectivity issues during email retrieval. (see Prepare Your BizHarvest Business Account to see how to minimize this)
Spam Email will Remain on BizHarvest Servers: Since spam email is all filtered prior to being delivered to the inbox, all spam email will not be delivered to Gmail, including legitimate email that was marked as spam. (see Prepare Your BizHarvest Business Account to see how to minimize this)
Delays in Receiving Emails: Gmail checks for new emails from external accounts at intervals, which can sometimes lead to delays in receiving new emails compared to directly accessing the account via a dedicated email client or webmail service that uses IMAP.
May Reveal Personal Gmail Address: When sending emails using your external email address through Gmail, the email headers might include information that reveals it was sent via Gmail. This could be an issue for users aiming for a more professional appearance or who wish to completely mask their use of Gmail.
Lack of Server-Side Folder Management: IMAP allows for more sophisticated server-side management of emails and folders. Using Gmail with POP3, you might lose some of this functionality, making it harder to organize emails effectively on the server.

Setting Up Your Account

Step 1: Prepare Your BizHarvest Business Account for Gmail Integration

Applies to BizHarvest Enhanced & Enhanced+ Business Email

To ensure a smooth integration of your BizHarvest Business email with Gmail, especially since Gmail uses the POP3 protocol for email retrieval, it's crucial to prepare your BizHarvest account. This preparation helps maintain a backup of your recent emails and prevents issues related to email delivery due to full mailboxes.

Logging into BizHarvest Mail

Open Your Browser: Navigate to https://mail.bizharvest.com.
Sign In: Use your domain email address and password to log in.

Configuring Email Settings

Access User Settings: Click the profile icon in the upper-right corner of the BizHarvest mail interface, then select "User settings" from the dropdown menu. A new tab will open in your browser.
Manage Folder Cleanup:
- Click on the "Folders Cleanup" button on the home tab.
- For the "Inbox" and "Spam" folders, select these options from the dropdown, then choose "120 days" from the "interval of days" select box and click "Add Condition". This step helps by automatically deleting emails older than 120 days, keeping your inbox manageable and ensuring it doesn't get too full, potentially hindering email delivery. Note that the most recent 120 days of emails will be kept as a backup on the BizHarvest servers with a backup retention of 30 days.

Setting Up Spam Delivery Rules

To manage how spam is treated, you have two options:

Disable Spam Filter: This option allows all emails, including those marked as spam, to be delivered to your inbox without being filtered by BizHarvest's spam filter. This can be useful if you prefer to use Gmail's spam filtering capabilities.
OR
Modify Spam Filter Rules: To ensure that spam emails are marked accordingly but still delivered to your inbox, enabling their retrieval by Gmail, follow these steps:

Access "Delivery Rules" from the User Control Panel home tab.
Click on the "edit" icon next to the "SpamDelivery" rule.
To adjust the rule, you can disable it by clicking on the "Enabled" button, changing it to "Disabled".
To modify the rule further, delete the current rule that delivers to the "Spam" folder by clicking the "delete" icon.
Add a new rule by selecting "Deliver to Folder", choosing "INBOX" from the folder name dropdown, and saving your changes by clicking "Deliver".

By following these steps, you'll prepare your BizHarvest Business account for efficient integration with Gmail, ensuring you can manage your emails effectively while minimizing any potential issues with email retrieval and delivery.

Step 2: Add an External Account to Gmail for Receiving Emails

Log Into Gmail: Open your browser, go to Gmail, and sign in with your Google account credentials.
Access Settings: Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the Gmail interface, and select "See all settings" from the dropdown menu.
Navigate to Accounts and Import: In the settings menu, click on the "Accounts and Import" tab.
Add a Mail Account: Find the "Check mail from other accounts" section and click on "Add a mail account".
Enter Your BizHarvest Email Address (your-email-address@your-domain.com): A window will appear asking for the email address you wish to add. Enter your BizHarvest business email address and click "Next".
Import Emails: Choose "Import emails from my other account (POP3)" and click "Next".
Input Server Details: Fill in the POP server details for your BizHarvest account, including the server address and port. Ensure to select "Yes" for using SSL for a secure connection. Then, enter your BizHarvest email address and password.
Choose Additional Options: You may choose to leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server, label incoming messages, and/or archive incoming messages. Please note that if you properly prepared your BizHarvest Business email, please choose to leave a copy of the email on the server. (see Things to Consider and Preparing Your Account for more details)
Complete the Addition: Click "Add Account" and follow any additional prompts to verify the account, if necessary.

Step 3: Set Up Gmail to Send Emails Using Your External Account

Choose to Send as Your Domain: After adding your account for receiving emails, you'll be prompted to set up the ability to send emails as your domain address. Select "Yes, I want to be able to send mail as..." and click "Next Step".
Enter Your Information: Provide your name and ensure your domain email address is correctly displayed.
SMTP Server Setup: Enter the SMTP server details for your domain email, including the SMTP server address, your username (which is usually your full domain email address), and your password. Choose the correct port (typically 587 for TLS) and select either SSL or TLS for a secure email sending.
Verification: Gmail will send a verification email to your domain address. Follow the instructions in the email to verify your setup.
Using Your Domain Address in Gmail: Once verified, you can select your domain address as the "From" address when composing emails in Gmail.

By following these steps, you can efficiently use Gmail as your primary email client while leveraging the professional appearance and functionality of your BizHarvest business email address. This setup ensures you can manage all your emails in one place without missing the benefits of using your business-specific email for professional correspondence.