Mailboxes · 5 min · reviewed 2026-09-06
How do I create a Gmail app password for IMAP and SMTP?
Turn on 2-Step Verification for the Google account, open the App passwords page, create one named "SalesCrew", and paste the 16-character password into the mailbox form. Your normal Gmail password will not work for IMAP. Five minutes.
What you will need
- The Google account's password and its phone or authenticator for 2-Step Verification.
- For Google Workspace: IMAP must be allowed by your admin (Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → End user access).
Steps
- 1
Step 1
Open https://myaccount.google.com/security and turn on 2-Step Verification if it is off.
- 2
Step 2
Open https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Google asks you to sign in again.
- 3
Step 3
Type a name such as SalesCrew and click Create.
- 4
Step 4
Google shows a 16-character password once. Copy it now; spaces do not matter.
- 5
Step 5
In SalesCrew: Settings → Mailboxes → Add mailbox. Provider Gmail.
- 6
Step 6
Enter the address, a display name, and paste the app password into Password / app password.
- 7
Step 7
Leave the IMAP and SMTP hosts as filled in (imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com). Save.
Common errors
- "App passwords" page says the setting is not available
- 2-Step Verification is off, or a Workspace admin blocked less secure apps. Turn on 2-Step first; ask the admin to allow IMAP.
- Login failed after saving
- you pasted the account password, not the app password. Create a new app password.
- Mail syncs but sending fails
- Gmail limits new accounts to a few hundred messages a day. Warm the address up.
How you know it worked
Settings → Mailboxes shows the mailbox with health ok within two minutes. Send yourself a message and watch it land in the Inbox page.
Where this goes in SalesCrew
Settings → Mailboxes → the new mailbox shows health ok after its first sync. In your own workspace the same how-to opens beside the field, with your callback URLs filled in.