Updated on Jan. 25 with the latest update on Google’s failed inbox filters.
Gmail is changing. The headline updates are all around address changes and AI. But there are quieter updates in the background and your account may now be at risk. Most affected users do not know about these changes. You need to act now.
I’ve already warned that Google is shutting down POP3 accounts set up within Gmail. Starting this month, “fetching emails from third-party accounts into your Gmail account, with POP, will no longer be supported.”
That’s an issue because most of those accounts are older, legacy email accounts that have been working seamlessly for years. That’s all about to change.
But while the POP3 change will stop your older email accounts working, the other change may go unnoticed. As Android Authority warns, “Google’s killing off the best Gmail feature you never knew about. If you relied on Gmailify to keep other inboxes organized and spam-free, you’ll need a new plan.”
Per 9to5Google, “the aim of Gmailify was to provide Gmail features to people with Yahoo, AOL, or Outlook/Hotmail accounts. You could keep that email address while benefiting from Gmail spam protection.”
That’s the same spam protection that Google says “keeps your private information safe. Gmail works hard to protect you from spam, phishing, and malware, before they reach your inbox. Our AI-enhanced spam-filtering capabilities block nearly 10 million spam emails every minute.” Put simply, you don’t want this suddenly disappearing.
But that’s exactly what’s about to happen. Google says Gmailify “allows you to get special features like spam protection or inbox organization applied to your third-party email account.” But “starting January 2026,” Gmail will no longer support it.
It’s very important that you don’t lose filtering on emails that may still be dropping into your primary Gmail inbox from these legacy accounts. Google says you can change the settings on those legacy account to forward emails instead.
You may not notice the change. But you can bet attackers will. Sending out emails to Hotmail or Yahoo or AOL addresses could become a boon. Millions of those emails will now be dropping into Gmail inboxes — unfiltered.
And on the subject of filtering, or the lack thereof, Google has confirmed that a widespread issue this weekend is plaguing inboxes with spam — or worse. While the planned change will stop scanning emails for spam and malware, the unfortunately timed flaw does exactly the same, but by accident not deliberately.
Per Engadget, “Google says it’s working to fix Gmail issue that’s led to flooded inboxes and increased spam warnings. Gmail users started experiencing issues with their inboxes’ automatic filters on Saturday morning.”
Google confirmed a number of related issues through Saturday, including “a misclassification of emails in their inbox, additional spam warnings, and delays in receiving email.” It acknowledged that “misclassified spam warnings from the incident may persist for existing messages received before the issue resolution.”
The Verge says “some (Gmail users) also reported seeing a banner at the top of some messages warning them to ‘be careful with this message,’ explaining that it hasn’t been fully scanned for spam or malware.”
Google’s last update suggests the issue, at least in part, is now resolved.
