How to add an alias to connected Gmail accounts

[nicolebrenner]

Due to a recent change made in the CRM, any users who have a Google or Outlook 365 account connected to HubSpot will notice that any other accounts they have linked to the CRM are no longer connected.

This change was made in order to improve a number of email deliverability issues related to sending email from the CRM, and moving forward we will be making additional changes.

What this means is that if you have additional email accounts that are not hosted by Outlook 365 or Google, you may need to create an alias in order to connect your account. Alternatively, you can select the connected inbox from the dropdown menu and send using that email address.

 

If you would like to send from the secondary account, you will can create an alias using a connected Google Account (either Google Apps for Work or Gmail).

Once you are logged into google, you can navigate to settings -> accounts and import in gmail settings. For complete instructions, I would recommend checking out this documenation from Google.

I have included some screenshots of what this process looks like:

You should get an email confirming that you own the other address and once that is configured hubspot should allow you to send properly. (In some cases you may need to set up custom SMTP servers in step 3 for this to work correctly)

[JamiesonC]

And if we get this when we try to connect to Gmail? Over, and over, and over? What then?

I have wasted far too much time today trying to adapt to a "solution" that (1) was rolled out without any prior notice, (2) doesn't seem to work right, and (3) doesn't look like it will be at all effective in solving the problem for which it was rolled out in the first place.

My poor HubSpot success manager — she's going to get an earful as soon as I get her on the phone.

[csyperski]

So things were working, then I log in this morning and get this.   I don't even have the option to link it via gmail anymore?  What is going on?  This has been a pretty ugly roll-out and communication has been worse!  

[BobinNH]

Yes, it seemed to work for a few days then it stopped working.  On another post a support engineer said they "were doing some work on the back end".

I've put all my stuff on hold for the time being hoping they will figure it out.

Bob

[MayPascaud]

Hi everyone, I apologize for the delayed communication regarding this issue. My previous comment contained some outdated information, which I have now edited, approximately 45mn later.

HubSpot Sales should now allow you to be signed in to HubSpot with your alias/work email - as long as your @gmail.com email is connected to your account - and the alias is set up as an alias in that @gmail account.

If your account meets this conditions but you are still having difficulty connecting your inbox, please send me a PM with the following elements:

- A screenshot of your successfully connected inbox, like this:

- A screenshot of your successfully created alias, like this:

- A screenshot of any console errors you might be seeing:

- A HAR file of your trying to connect your inbox by folllowing these instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urXWtKbyt48

Please only send me this information via PM, and I will update you on this thread.

Finally, another workaround (which I had stated in the previous version of this comment as the only solution) is the following:

You can set your primary user email as your Gmail address. For instance, if I want to email contacts as may@hubspot.com, but this email address is not hosted on GSuite or O365, and I also have a may@gmail.com email address. The steps that I will take in this case are the following:

•  Create an alias for my may@gmail.com account, under may@hubspot.com, following the instructions provided by Nicole above
• Create a new user in my portal with the address may@gmail.com
• Connect my may@gmail.com inbox while signed in as this user 
• Then, add may@hubspot.com as a connected account for this user. If I had a user under may@hubspot.com in my portal beforehand, I would need to delete that user (and make all necessary changes to transfer ownership of contacts, etc. to my new user may@gmail.com).
• Once all of this has been done, I will be able to select may@hubspot.com as an email address to email contacts from, within the CRM, while being signed in as may@gmail.com.

Let me know if you have any questions on this, I know that it is a lot of information.

All my best,

May

[biancaYDL]

Hi,

I actually have a lot of questions.

The work around is not really a solution for me since then still none of my emails sent get tracked. This is a large part what I would need. Also it doesnt seem to work to add my gmail account and completely disconnect my other inbox before.

WHen will be able to conenct outside servers (bluehost emails for example) again?

Is there any plan on actually fixing this? in case this can't be solved I will have to look for another CRM and would rather do that sooner than later before losing more time. 

Please communicate the exact situation on when we are able to properly connect without using work arounds that lose the main functions. 

Thank you

Bianca

[MayPascaud]

Hi @biancaYDL,

With this workaround, your emails would be tracked - all emails sent through the CRM are automatically tracked.

In addition, if your primary concern is to track your emails, you actually do not need to have a connected inbox to do this: all you need is to install the HubSpot Sales plugin on your Gmail or Outlook client, check the "track email" box, and your emails will be tracked automatically. 

Finally, our development team is currently working hard to develop a generic IMAP inbox connection, which would support other types of email providers. While I do not have a specific date for the rollout of this feature, I can assure you that it is a priority for the team to enable non-Gmail and O365 users to be able to connect their inboxes. 

[biancaYDL]

Hi,

with the work around - will the sequence option work?

Because I tried it last time and I couldnt schedule sequences for the alias email.

I am hesitant to sign up again for the Pro version if the main features dont work again,..

[MayPascaud]

Sending Sequences from Gmail with an alias should work as well!

[MayPascaud]

To all other users, please see my previous post (on page 1 of this thread) if you are still having difficulty with the alias workaround.

I have also built a separate thread to provide some background on the reason for which this issue arose, why these changes were made, and the different options available to users to resolve it: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/CRM/Sending-emails-from-the-CRM-recent-changes-prompting-This-email...

May

[JamiesonC]

@MayPascaud, I want to make sure I understand this correctly. If my user account on my HubSpot portal is based on a primary email address that is not hosted on Gmail or Office 365, are you saying that I have to create a new user account with a different email address in order for this connection thing to work?

And then, I will need to do the same for every user we have on HubSpot Sales?

[MayPascaud]

Hi @JamiesonC, thanks for your quick reply. As I posted my update, I was made aware of some additional information on this issue, which I am currently investigating, so I've removed my previous reply in the meantime. I will update this again by EOD.

[minervagg]

Yo hace años que tengo varios alias creados en Gmail y sin embargo, solo me da problemas de desconexión con Hubspot desde la semana pasada. Antes me funcionaba perfectamente.

[djpirate]

The problem is back. The alias integration just doesn't work. Haven't been able to send emials for a week?

[BobinNH]

Going through this procedure allows me to integrate my bob@gmail.com account, but not the alias account.  How do I use the alias account bob@mycompany.com?

[relabidin · Accepted solution]

Creating an alias for your work email does not allow you to integrate it with HubSpot. Only Google and Outlook 365 inboxes can be integrated with HubSpot. Creating an alias for your work address under your Gmail account allows you to send email from the HubSpot CRM with your work address in the From field, but the inbox is not actually integrated with HubSpot.

Rami 

[MichaelBruton]

We were given no notice on this change and have spent 3 days dead in the water re: email.  We're a software dev shop, and this is far from our expectations:

- No prior notice

- Old functionality broken

- New functionality requires assistance of internal IT team to configure

- New functionality significantly detracts from financial value of license

- Several days of loss of use while trying to fix

Many things to complain about, all stacked on top of one another.

[ipl123india123]

@nicolebrenner we should have received some advance notice of this change.

I cannot send emails from gmail to my clients as it looks very unprofessional. And if I need to get a google business account, I need to approve it with my finance team which will take time. 

Please help us in the short term!

[relabidin]

Hi @ipl123india123,

You can create a new Gmail account and then set up an alias such that your main professional email address is an alias of the free Gmail account. Connect this Gmail account to HubSpot and then you should be able to email in the CRM from your main address.

Rami 

[ipl123india12]

@relabidin from my understanding, to associate my professional email with Gmail, I have to pay $5/ month for Google Business. Instead, I would rather pay that money to get an entire ERP solution with CRM, Email marketing, etc from Odoo. 

Is there a way to connect a personal gmail to my email for free such that the emails from Hubspot still go from my company domain?

[relabidin]

Hi @ipl123india12,

I recommend creating an alias for you business account under your personal Gmail address. The directions on how to do this are found in Nicole's original post above. This will let you send from your professional email within HubSpot, provided that your personal Gmail inbox is connected to HubSpot, which appears to be the case.

Rami