A solution to GMail’s ‘On behalf of’ problem
Monday, April 06, 2009
Like many, I use Gmail as a clearing house for my 'real' addresses. In other words, when you send a mail to , it sits on my mail server only until Gmail comes to collect it, and pull it into its non-evil embrace.Then I check my actual Gmail account (using IMAP so it syncs with my laptop, iPhone and the GMail web interface). I get to use their giant amount of online storage, so there's always a copy in the cloud, and I can get to all my mail (sent and received) from pretty much anywhere with a cell phone signal or an internet connection.
Gmail lets you set things up so when you send mail, it appears to come from your 'real' address, not from gmail.com, so you can be all professional, like.
Not in Outlook
Except in Outlook (and some other mail packages, too, but Outlook is the biggie). What those corporate types see is 'Sent from: Bob Bobbins () on behalf of Bob Bobbins ()' or something like it.
Suddenly you don't look very professional at all. But there is a solution that should work for some people. Google say their approach is an anti-spam technique, since showing that your mail has gone out through their servers means you're less likely to blocked at the receiver's end. And some folks point out that Outlook is actually being useful by telling the reader exactly how the mail got to them.
Maybe so, but most of us would like a way for our mail to appear to come right from our real address, without showing the world our private or personal Gmail account address.
A workaround
For some people, there's a way round it. I didn't invent this solution, just cobbled it together from various web resources, but a few people have asked me about it, so here goes:Requirements
You'll need to be able to send mail out through your domain's SMTP server. This will stop a lot of you right there, as an increasing number of hosts and ISPs don't let you do this.You'll also need to be using a desktop mail client - the Gmail web interface won't work (I don't think) - your mail will still show as being sent 'on behalf' of the address you want to use.
Change your outgoing mail server
Assuming you've got your mail program set up to check your Gmail account already, you don't need to change your incoming settings at all.But you will need to change your outgoing mail settings. So set the mail to be sent out through your domain's SMTP server (you'll probably need to use authentication - usually a username and password - to get this to work). If your mail server supports it, you can use SSL too.
Now, since your mail from 'bob@realdomain.com' is really going out through the realdomain.com servers, your recipients won't see any of that Gmail 'on behalf of' nonsense.
Send a copy to Gmail for safekeeping
The downside of this is that if your machine crashes, or you're on someone else's computer, you won't be able to access the mail you've sent.To get round this you can auto-bcc yourself a copy of every mail you send. In Apple Mail, this option is under Preferences - Composing.
This will send a copy to your address, which will make its way to your Gmail account. Gmail is smart enough to file mail that seems to come from you straight into your Sent folder, so it won't clog up your Inbox, but you'll keep a copy.
Getting your Mailboxes straight in Apple Mail
If you do this in Apple Mail, you'll notice you end up with a Sent Mailbox in the regular place and a Sent blue folder under your Gmail account. To tidy this up, you can click on the Sent folder in Gmail, and then from the menu choose Mailbox - Use This Mailbox for . . . and then select Sent.This will consolidate the two folders nicely.
Upshot
It would be a lot easier if Google just did away with the 'on behalf of' stuff, as Yahoo Mail does apparently, but until then, this workaround should help some people who still have access to SMTP servers for the real accounts they've tied to their Gmail one.I set this up for myself earlier in the week, and so far it seems to be working. If people have any suggestions or warnings, please comment or drop me a line - .