How do I update an existing Gmail account to use OAuth 2.0?

Frequently Asked Questions
1

If you used your Google password when adding a Gmail account to K-9 Mail, you need to use the new mechanism to be able to still access your messages. For this to work, make sure you’re using K-9 Mail 6.200 or newer.

We tried to make the transition as easy as possible without forcing users that use app-specific passwords to switch to OAuth 2.0.

The somewhat automatic way

  1. Inside K-9 Mail, manually check your Gmail account for new messages.
  2. You should see an “Authentication failed” notification.
  3. Tap the notification to get to the Incoming server settings screen for that account.
  4. The app should have automatically changed the Authentication value to OAuth 2.0. So, just press the Next button at the bottom of the screen.
  5. If your browser is not already logged in to your Google account, you will be asked to log in.
  6. Afterwards you’ll be asked to grant K-9 Mail access to “Read, compose, send, and permanently delete all your email from Gmail”. Tap “Allow”.
  7. Your Gmail account in K-9 Mail should work again.

The manual way

  1. Go to Settings → [Your Gmail account] → Fetching mail → Incoming server.
  2. Make sure to use imap.gmail.com under IMAP server.
  3. Select OAuth 2.0 under Authentication.
  4. Tap the Next button at the bottom of the screen.
  5. If your browser is not already logged in to your Google account, you will be asked to log in.
  6. Afterwards you’ll be asked to grant K-9 Mail access to “Read, compose, send, and permanently delete all your email from Gmail”. Tap “Allow”.
  7. Go to Settings → [Your Gmail account] → Sending mail → Outgoing server.
  8. Make sure to use smtp.gmail.com under SMTP server.
  9. Select OAuth 2.0 under Authentication.
  10. Tap the Next button at the bottom of the screen.
  11. K-9 Mail will automatically use the access you’ve granted it in step 6.
  12. Your Gmail account in K-9 Mail should work again.
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