How to Set Up Push Gmail in iPhone Mail

What to Know

Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account. Choose your email client, then enter email address and other pertinent information.
Return to the Accounts screen and select Push next to Fetch New Data.
Select Automatically in the Fetch section to receive email sent to your account as quickly as possible.

This article explains how to receive Gmail messages in the Mail app for iOS. How you set up the Mail app to receive and manage Gmail differs slightly depending on whether you have a free Gmail or paid Exchange account.

How to Set Up Push Gmail Exchange Account in iPhone Mail

Paid Exchange accounts are primarily business accounts. To add Gmail as a push Exchange account to iPhone Mail:

Tap Settings on the iPhone Home screen.
Select Mail > Accounts.
Choose Add Account.
Select Microsoft Exchange from the options presented.
Enter your Gmail address in the Email field. Optionally, add a description in the field provided. Then, tap Next.
In the next window, select either Sign In or Configure Manually. If you select Sign In, enter your email address to supply your Exchange account information. If you select Configure Manually, enter your password and other information manually. Then, tap Next.
Enter the information requested on the screen to set up your Exchange account, then tap Next.
Indicate which Exchange folders you want to push to iPhone Mail and how many previous days' messages you want to sync.
Return to the Accounts screen and tap Push next to Fetch New Data.
Confirm that the Exchange account says Push or Fetch next to it.
At the bottom of the same screen, click Automatically in the Fetch section to receive the email sent to your Exchange account as quickly as possible. If you prefer to receive emails at a longer time interval, select Every 15 Minutes, Every 30 Minutes, or another option.

Set Up Free Gmail Push in iPhone Mail App

You can also add a free Gmail account to iPhone Mail where it is assigned a separate Inbox:

Tap Settings on the iPhone Home screen.
Select Mail > Accounts.
Tap Add Account.
Select Google from the options presented.
Enter your Gmail address (or phone number) in the field provided. Tap Next.
Enter your Gmail password in the field provided. Tap Next.
Indicate which Gmail folders you want to push to iPhone Mail.
Return to the Accounts & Passwords screen and tap Push next to Fetch New Data.
Confirm that the Gmail account says Push or Fetch next to it.
At the bottom of the same screen, click Automatically in the Fetch section to receive the email sent to your email account as quickly as possible.

iOS versions earlier than iOS 11 didn't have the Automatically option. You had to select from the other options, the shortest of which was Every 15 Minutes.

Gmail Alternatives

If you use iOS 8.0 or later on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can use the free Gmail app instead of configuring the Mail app. The app is easy to set up and offers a range of features that aren't available in the Mail app. The official Gmail app supplies real-time notifications and offers multiple account support. The features include:

Undo Send capability.
Ability to switch between multiple accounts.
Swift notification of new email by notification or badge.
Response capability to Google Calendar invitations from the app.
Fast email search with predictions as you type and spelling suggestions.

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