How do I use Google app passwords with SMTP email in SiteLink?

Ashley_D

⚠️  Starting on May 30, 2022, Google will no longer support the "less secure apps" option to sign into your Google Account on 3rd party apps using only your username and password. If you are using this option to connect your Gmail account with SMTP email in SiteLink, please follow the instructions below to ensure the SMTP integration in SiteLink does not break.

In order to use Gmail with SMTP email in SiteLink, you will need to set up Google app passwords with 2-Step Verification. After being set up, you should only need to enter your passcode once in SiteLink. Even if you change your Google password, the integration with SiteLink won't break.

To get started:

1. Set up app passwords for your Google account by following Google’s instructions. 

Note: You must turn on 2-Step Verification for your Google account as part of this process if you have not already. If multiple users at your company need access to your Google/Gmail account, please see the last section of this article: How do I use 2-Step Verification if multiple users at my company share a Gmail login?

2. Copy the 16 digit passcode generated by Google during app passwords setup. 

3. Log into SiteLink Web Edition and click Setup.

4. Click E-Mail.

5. Enter the 16 digit passcode from Google in the SMTP password field.
 
If you are setting up SMTP email for the first time, enter your Gmail address in the SMTP Username field, smtp.gmail.com in the SMTP Server Address field, 587 in the SMTP Port field, and check the Use SSL box. 

6. Click Ok.

How do I use 2-Step Verification if multiple users at my company share a Gmail login?

If multiple users share your company’s Gmail login, you can generate a key during the 2-Step Verification setup that you can share with other users to set up 2-Step Verification through their authentication apps as well.

1. During the setup process for 2-Step Verification, instead of scanning the QR code, click Can't Scan It. 

2. Google will generate a key that you can enter in your authentication app and share with other users who need to access your company’s Gmail account. 

3. Each user who needs access should download the Google Authentication app if they do not already have it. 

4. In their authentication app, users should add a new account by clicking the + button in the bottom right corner and selecting Enter a setup key.

5. Enter the email address for your Gmail account and the key that was generated in the 2-Step Verification process. 

6. Click Add.

7. When a user who has set up authentication using your account key logs into Gmail, they will enter the code generated by their authentication app to gain access.