Guide

ImprovMX and Gmail “Send mail as”: what the 2027 change means

If you forward your domain with ImprovMX and send from your alias inside Gmail, that sending step stops working in January 2027. Your forwarding isn’t affected.

What changes

Sending from an ImprovMX alias in Gmail relies on Gmail’s “Send mail as” with ImprovMX’s SMTP server. Google is removing “Send mail as” for third-party addresses in January 2027, on the web and in the Gmail apps. Mail ImprovMX forwards into Gmail keeps arriving; you just can’t send from the alias inside Gmail anymore.

What ImprovMX suggests

In its own guide, ImprovMX suggests sending from a different mail app, such as Thunderbird or Apple Mail, that reads Gmail over IMAP and sends through ImprovMX’s SMTP server, or moving to a full mailbox such as Fastmail or Zoho Mail. ImprovMX notes that sending through its SMTP servers requires a paid plan.

If you’d rather keep sending from Gmail

ForwardMailTo forwards your domain’s mail into Gmail and sends your replies and new emails from your domain, with no SMTP settings, so you can keep using Gmail on the web and on your phone.

  1. Recreate your aliases. In ImprovMX, note each alias and where it forwards. Create the same addresses in ForwardMailTo, pointing at the same inboxes. Turn on catch-all if you used ImprovMX’s wildcard alias. Free includes 25 addresses on one domain.
  2. Swap the DNS records. At your DNS provider, add the TXT and DKIM records the setup wizard shows you. Edit your existing v=spf1 record to use include:amazonses.com instead of the ImprovMX include, rather than adding a second SPF record. Replace the ImprovMX MX records last, since mail keeps flowing through ImprovMX until then.
  3. Check it works. The setup page rechecks your records automatically. Once the domain shows active, send a test to one of your addresses and reply to it from Gmail.

Sending after the move

  • Replies: hit Reply in Gmail. The recipient sees your domain address.
  • New emails: click Write a new email in your dashboard, pick who it’s for, and we open Gmail with everything filled in. People you’ve emailed before also show up in Gmail’s suggestions as “Name (via yourdomain.com)”.
  • You can remove the alias from Gmail’s “Send mail as” list once you’re sending this way.

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