7 Best Free Email Clients: Free Replacement for Outlook

Here are 7 best free email clients that we have come across. If you use Microsoft Outlook, and want to switch to a free email client, then this list will provide you with good options. All of these are completely free, and full of features.

The Benefits of Using Gmail with Microsoft Outlook

Ever since Google added IMAP support in Gmail, I have almost stopped visiting the Gmail website and manage all my email inside Microsoft Outlook.
Though Outlook with Gmail IMAP can sometimes become painfully slow, there are still plenty of reasons to continue using Outlook as a Gmail Message Reader - you get less spam, more storage space and more.
1. Get more storage space in Gmail

Microsoft Outlook lets you search emails based on the size of the message.
Therefore you can easily discover emails that clog your Gmail Inbox and delete them inside Outlook -the bulky message will immediately disappear from Gmail servers too.
Cleaning up the inbox was extremely inconvenient when Gmail provided only POP3 access.
2. Double Protection from Spam
Gmail spam filters are excellent but not perfect so spam can still sneak into your Inbox.
Now Microsoft too provides their own junk email filters in Outlook so the chances are very high that spam which manages to fool Gmail will get caught by Outlook Junk email filters.
Google and Microsoft are technically not working together to build a common email spam management solution but with Outlook and Gmail, you indirectly get the best of both worlds.
3. Learn About the Sender from LinkedIn
The excellent LinkedIn Toolbar for Outlook adds a small "info" link to each of your email messages.
You can hover the mouse over this link to learn more about sender of the email provided he or she has a profile on LinkedIn.
Once you start using this LinkedIn feature in Outlook, you'll almost get addicted to it. Sometimes I find it more efficient than Googling a person's name.
4. Right-Click and Block Email Senders
Though you can create rules in Gmail to automatically route email to the Trash or Spam folder, Outlook makes it all the more simple - you can right click any email message and say "Add Sender to Blocked Senders List".
Alternatively, you can block email from entire web domains (abc.com) or Top Level Domains (like .ru or .cn) in simple steps.
Related: Effective Gmail Search Commands
5. Import pictures of your Outlook/Gmail Contacts from Facebook
This is one of my favorites - you get an email in Gmail, it downloads to your Outlook account, you add that person to your address book and then import his/her photograph, website URL and other details from Facebook using any of the Facebook-Outlook sync services.
You can then sync your Outlook contacts with your BlackBerry or other smart phones. Very useful.
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Bonus Tip: You don't need any hacks for creating rich email signatures in Gmail - Outlook will do that for you.

Easily Transfer Emails from Hotmail to Gmail Via Outlook Connector

Make that switch from Windows Live Hotmail to Gmail but the problem is how to move old Hotmail email messages and folders to the new Gmail address ? Hotmail doesn't support IMAP or POP3 and it will take years to manually forward individual emails from Hotmail to Gmail.

No worries, there's a wonderful solution that costs $0 and comes from Microsoft itself - its the Office Outlook connector and works with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

Here's a step by step guide on moving emails from Hotmail to Gmail via Outlook:
1. Install the Outlook connector and then configure your MSN Hotmail / Windows Live Hotmail accounts with Outlook.
2. Once you have all your Hotmail email message available locally inside Outlook, configure Gmail IMAP access inside Outlook.
3. Now copy or just drag-n-drop the Hotmail folders (downloaded in Step 1) over your Gmail Inbox folder in Outlook. Its the same migration procedure as described in a previous tutorial - Backup Outlook Email to Gmail.
As your Outlook synchronizes with Gmail, all your Hotmail messages will become available inside Gmail as well. And if you have multiple Hotmail accounts, this trick will help you consolidate email messages from all those account at one place.
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Export and Backup Emails from Outlook to Gmail Online

 

Looking for a trick to archive all Outlook email messages (and folders) to his online Gmail account for two reasons - one is secure backup and two, he will be able toaccess his old emails from any computer.

Solution: It is quite easy to transfer Outlook emails to your Gmail mailbox. Here's a step by step guide:

Step 1: Enable IMAP in your Gmail account and then configure Outlook (or Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail) to sync with your Gmail address via IMAP. Read this guide.

Step 2: Import your Outlook PST file into a Personal folder that is different from your default Gmail Inbox.

To import, click File -> Import And Export -> Import from another program or file. -> Next -> Personal Folder File (.pst) -> Next.

Select the PST file that contains your email, then pick the email folders that you want to import in Outlook and clickFinish.

Step 3: Select the Personal folders that you want to backup online and copy them your Gmail Folder in Outlook (see screenshot).

In the Folder List, right-click the folder you want to copy and click Copy Folder name. Click the Gmail Folder in Outlook to copy that folder in that location. You can repeat the steps as needed for other folders.

That's it. Your Outlook email will soon become available inside your online Gmail Inbox.

If your switching from Hotmail to Gmail, check this tutorial on moving emails from Hotmail to Gmail.

Caution: The migration from Outlook to Gmail can take a long time if you have very large Outlook pst file or if your internet connection speed is slow. Therefore, consider removing all large emails before moving them to your Gmail via IMAP.

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Check Hotmail Email Using the Office Outlook Connector

While Hotmail doesn't offer POP3 access, Microsoft has released a free utility called Microsoft Office Outlook Connector that allows you download email from your Windows Live Hotmail account to local Outlook or Outlook Express.
With Outlook Connector, you can not only send or receive email - you get all the goodies of Outlook including the Junk Mail filter and powerful Rules Wizard of Outlook to help you auto-sort the incoming email.
To configure your Outlook with Windows Live Hotmail, just download the 3 MB Outlook Connector, type in your Hotmail username+password and you're done.
The best part is that if you have multiple accounts, you can manage them from one central location - your Outlook. Supports both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.
Get Outlook Connector here. [outlookconnector.exe] Requires Windows Validation check.

Use Gmail IMAP in Microsoft Outlook 2007

We’ve all been hearing about the new IMAP support in Gmail, but how do we access that from Outlook? Those of you that have been waiting patiently will be happy to know all the instructions are on this page.
Using IMAP we can synchronize email across multiple devices, since the mail stays on the server. You already stopped reading this part and skipped down to the instructions, didn’t you?
Enable IMAP in Gmail Settings
Open your Settings panel in Gmail, and then click on the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab.

Now click the Enable IMAP radio button, and click Save Changes.
Add Account to Outlook
Use the Tools menu you to open the Account Settings panel.

If this is your first account you’ll be prompted for the wizard, otherwise you’ll need to click the New button under the E-mail tab.

Now select the “Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP or HTTP” option and hit next.

Select the checkbox for “Manually configure server settings” and everything on that page will gray out. Hit the next button again.

Now select “Internet E-mail”  (Didn’t we just do this? This wizard is taking too long…)

Finally we can enter some settings! Add in all your personal information here.

Note: If you are outside of the US you may need to use imap.googlemail.com and smtp.googlemail.com instead of imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com.
Note: for Gmail Apps accounts, you’ll need to put in your full email address wherever you see an @gmail.com above. For instance, if your account was geek@howtogeek.com you would put that in the E-mail address field as well as the User Name field.
Click on the “More Settings” button and find the Outgoing Server tab, where you’ll need to check the box for “My outgoing server requires authentication”

Now choose the Advanced tab, and enter the following values (Very important)

• Incoming Server: 993
• Incoming Server encrypted connection: SSL
• Outgoing Server: 587
• Outgoing Server encrypted connection: TLS

Note: If you are having an issue with your sent email not showing up in Gmail, you can use the Folders tab, and then select the [Gmail] \ Sent Mail folder.
Note: Only do this step if your mail is not showing up, otherwise it will duplicate the sent mail.

Now that you’ve closed out that dialog, you can click the Test Account Settings button to make sure everything is going to work.

If all goes well, you should see a success message.

Note: Some ISPs restrict outgoing mail, so if you have a problem sending a test message you’ll need to consult with their documentation.
Accessing Your Mail
Now that everything is working you’ll notice a new set of folders for your Gmail account. (I’m using Gmail apps, which is why you don’t see an @gmail.com email address)
All of your labels will show up as separate folders, and the built-in “folders” in Gmail will be under the new [Gmail] folder.

 
Outlook Flags = Gmail Stars
If you want to star a message in Gmail, you just need to flag it in Outlook. When I flagged this message from Mysticgeek…

 
It shows up in Gmail as a starred message. (And it works the other way too)

Sending Email from Outlook
To send a new email from your Gmail account, just change the “Account” drop-down to your Gmail address before you send a message.

Note that if you only use Gmail, you won’t have this drop-down and it will default to your Gmail.
Final Thoughts
Here’s a few things to keep in mind:

• Gmail Labels = Outlook Folders. To label a message, add it to a folder.
• Gmail Stars = Outlook Flags.
• Do Not move spam messages to the “Junk E-mail” folder in Outlook, move them to the [Gmail] \ Spam folder.
• Outlook has a built-in Search Folder for “Large Mail”, which will let you easily find messages with large attachments.

Now that you can access your starred and labeled messages, you can start using Outlook’s excellent Search Folders to find messages more easily.

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