Can no longer add gmail as an email account?

Using /e/OS Applications
1

I recently updated to the latest /e/os on a phone that I hadn’t updated since 2.6.

I had previously had a few gmail accounts set up in mail as IMAP accounts (I only have them for troubleshooting email server problems), but when I went to add them to the updated phone it would only add them as system-level Google accounts, even when starting from the “add account” button in the mail app.

This is very much not what I wanted; if the process starts in the mail app, it should not be going beyond just setting up the accounts for email.

Is there any way to set up mail to access a gmail account without it going into the system account manager as a Google account?

(And if not, can that get fixed please? :slight_smile:

2

you can try this, but I’m unsure it works in 2026 as everything but oauth2 gets phased out:

in Mail, when it says “config found” for your @gmail.com address, go into the small dropdown settings → edit configuration/settings (orange font color) → and at “Authentification Type” change from oauth2 to (app-)password (see this old forum entry: How do I get OAuth2 credentials for a personal (free) gmail account - Gmail Community )

but as said, I think it’s over, quoting Set up Gmail with a third-party email client  |  Sync data  |  Google Workspace Help - I assume Workspace here applied to general enduser Gmail as well

Starting May 1, 2025, Google Workspace accounts no longer support less secure apps, third-party apps, or devices that ask you to sign in to your Google Account with your username and password. You must use OAuth to let these apps and devices access your account.