How to Send and Receive Your Business Email Through Gmail
Many business owners prefer using Gmail's interface while still sending and receiving email from their custom domain address — e.g. you@yourbusiness.com instead of a Gmail address. This guide shows you how to set that up.
This works by connecting your Hostking email account to Gmail using IMAP (to receive) and SMTP (to send).
What You'll Need
- A Google/Gmail account
- Your Hostking email address — e.g.
you@yourdomain.com - Your email password
- Your mail server —
mail.yourdomain.com
Part 1: Add Your Hostking Email to Gmail (Receiving)
Step 1 — Open Gmail Settings
Log into your Gmail account at gmail.com. Click the gear icon in the top right and select See all settings.
Step 2 — Go to Accounts and Import
Click the Accounts and Import tab.
Step 3 — Check mail from other accounts
Find the section Check mail from other accounts and click Add a mail account.
Step 4 — Enter your email address
Type your Hostking email address (e.g. you@yourdomain.com) and click Next.
Step 5 — Choose Import emails from my other account (POP3)
Select Import emails from my other account (POP3) and click Next.
Note: Gmail uses POP3 to fetch mail from external accounts. This is fine — your emails will still appear in Gmail and you can access them from any device through the Gmail interface.
Step 6 — Enter the incoming server details
Fill in the following:
- Username: Your full email address
- Password: Your email account password
- POP Server:
mail.yourdomain.com - Port:
995
Tick Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail.
Optionally tick Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server if you also want to keep emails accessible in DirectAdmin webmail.
Click Add Account.
Step 7 — Choose whether to also send as this address
Gmail will ask if you want to send mail as this address too. Select Yes and click Next — then follow Part 2 below.
Part 2: Send Emails as Your Business Address from Gmail
Step 1 — Enter your name and email
Enter the name you want recipients to see and your Hostking email address. Leave Treat as an alias ticked unless you want completely separate accounts. Click Next Step.
Step 2 — Enter outgoing server details
Fill in:
- SMTP Server:
mail.yourdomain.com - Port:
465 - Username: Your full email address
- Password: Your email account password
- Select Secured connection using SSL
Click Add Account.
Step 3 — Verify your email address
Gmail will send a verification email to your Hostking address. Check your webmail at mail.yourdomain.com or in DirectAdmin to find the email. Click the verification link or enter the code provided.
Once verified, you can now choose which email address to send from when composing a new email in Gmail — simply click the From field and select your business address.
Setting a Default Send Address
To always send from your business email by default:
- Go to Gmail Settings → Accounts and Import
- Under Send mail as, find your business address
- Click make default
Common Problems
"Authentication failed" when adding the outgoing server
Double-check your password — it must be the email account password from DirectAdmin, not your Gmail or Hostking portal password. Also make sure the username is your full email address.
Gmail is not fetching new emails
Gmail checks external POP3 accounts every 30–60 minutes, not instantly. If you need real-time delivery, set up the Hostking email directly in your phone or email client using IMAP instead.
Verification email never arrived
Check your webmail at mail.yourdomain.com — it may have landed there. If it's not there either, check your spam filter in DirectAdmin and also confirm the email account is active.
Emails sent from Gmail show "sent via gmail.com" to recipients
This can happen if the SMTP authentication hasn't been fully set up. Make sure you completed Part 2 fully and that your business address is verified and set as default.
Need Help?
Our support team is available every day from 7am to 10pm via live chat at hostking.host or by opening a ticket at my.hostking.host.
