Gmail and Outlook in one inbox: how to do it properly

The most common split is also the most annoying one: your employer or your clients are on Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com, your own life is on Gmail. Two apps, two tabs, two sets of notifications, and a daily guessing game about which one the thing you're looking for is in.

Putting both in one inbox is straightforward if the client handles two provider quirks for you. Here's what they are and how it works in Converge.

Quirk one: Microsoft doesn't take passwords any more

Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 stopped accepting plain passwords from mail apps. The only way in is to sign in with Microsoft and let the app use a token. If a mail client asks for your Outlook password, it either won't work or it's using a workaround that Microsoft will eventually close.

In Converge, adding a Microsoft address means clicking Sign in with Microsoft, approving the request on Microsoft's own page, and coming back. Converge never sees the password; it gets a token it can refresh. (This needs Converge to be registered with Microsoft. If the Sign in with Microsoft button isn't showing yet on convergemail.com, that registration is still being completed; self-hosters will find the steps in the README.)

Quirk two: Gmail wants either a sign-in or an app password

Google prefers the same sign-in flow, and Converge supports it. But Google also still allows app passwords — a 16-character password you generate once at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords (it requires 2-step verification to be on). Type your Gmail address and the app password into Converge, and it connects over IMAP like any other account.

Either way, Converge detects the Gmail servers from the address; you never type imap.gmail.com.

Then: one inbox that knows which is which

Once both are added, All inboxes shows them together, every message tagged in colour with the address it came to. Reply to a client's message and it goes back from the Microsoft address with your work signature. Reply to your sister and it goes from Gmail with your first name. You don't pick; Converge already knows. (That's the feature we wrote about in Why your email client should know which address to reply from.)

The folders stay separate where it matters: each account's Sent, Archive and Trash live under that account in the sidebar, so archiving a work message puts it in the work archive, where the rest of your team's tools expect to find it.

Three things people ask

Does my mail get copied somewhere? Converge keeps a cache of what it's downloaded so search and opening are instant, and sends through each provider's own outgoing server. Your mail stays in Gmail and in Microsoft 365. Remove an account from Converge and its cache is deleted.

Can I have the Gmail alias too? Yes. Add it as a second sending address on the Gmail account, give it its own signature, and Converge will reply from it when mail arrives addressed to it.

What about the phone? The Converge app for Android and iOS signs in with the same login and shows the same inbox, same colours, same reply behaviour.

Setting it up

1. Create a Converge login (free; the first 500 members get a year free).
2. Add your Gmail address — sign in with Google, or paste an app password.
3. Add your Microsoft address — sign in with Microsoft.
4. Give each a colour and a signature under Settings.

Five minutes, and the guessing game is over.