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How to Connect an Email Box to Cloud Chat (Google, Microsoft, IMAP/SMTP)

Last updated on May 26, 2026

When to Use

  • You want to connect an email box to Cloud Chat to receive and reply to customer emails in the same inbox as chat and WhatsApp

  • Your inbox is Gmail / Google Workspace, Outlook / Microsoft 365, or from another provider (Zimbra, Yahoo, self-hosted, etc.)

  • You need to reconnect an existing inbox that is experiencing errors

Prerequisites

Disconnect ClaudIA from the inbox before creating the connection. When a new email is connected, Cloud Chat pulls the email history as new conversations — if ClaudIA is active, it will start responding to them.

  • Logged in as administrator in Cloud Chat

  • The email must be a user mailbox (login + password) — cannot be a group

  • For Microsoft: the email needs to be the primary account of the Microsoft account

  • For IMAP/SMTP: access to provider settings to enable IMAP and obtain server address/port

About this tutorial

Cloud Chat supports three methods to connect an email inbox:

  • Google (OAuth) — for Gmail and Google Workspace, via Sign in with Google

  • Microsoft (OAuth) — for Outlook.com and Microsoft 365, via Sign in with Microsoft

  • Other providers (IMAP/SMTP) — for any other provider, with manual configuration

Google and Microsoft deprecated support for IMAP integrations — for these two, we use native integrations (OAuth). For all other providers, IMAP/SMTP is the way.

Go directly to your provider’s step:

Reference videos:

https://www.loom.com/embed/f97da4387d464ce998ca54a6c271dcc9

https://www.loom.com/embed/c28480dab2b5482c93f2801b4c9355a9

https://www.loom.com/embed/1114432b7f2a4c8b99f592b9dd002a3f

Step-by-step Guide

Step 1 — Access Mailbox Settings

  1. Go to Settings in Cloud Chat

  1. Navigate to Inbox → Add Inbox

  1. Select the Email channel — then choose the provider (Google, Microsoft, or Others)

Path A — Google (Gmail / Workspace)

Use when the inbox is Gmail or Google Workspace — OAuth integration (Sign in with Google).

The native connection app with Gmail is in beta awaiting Google approval but is functional.

1. Select Google as provider

After choosing Email, click on Google.

2. Log in with Google

  1. Enter the email address you want to connect

  1. Click Sign in with Google and follow the login process

  2. Select the account and accept the requested permissions

3. Add agents

Select the agents that will have access to the inbox.

Done! The Gmail inbox is now integrated with Cloud Chat.

Synchronization limitations (Google):

  • Only Inbox messages are synchronized with Cloud Chat

  • Messages in other folders or in spam are not automatically synchronized

To automatically move spam messages, create a rule in Gmail: https://www.loom.com/share/4dde1712265c411c841c37d7a1e264df

Path B — Microsoft (Outlook / 365)

Use when the inbox is Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 — OAuth integration (Sign in with Microsoft).

1. Enable POP/IMAP in Outlook

  1. Go to Settings → Mail → Forwarding and IMAP in outlook.live.com

  1. In the POP and IMAP section, activate Let devices and apps use IMAP

  1. Click Save

2. Confirm that the email is the primary account

  1. Go to Microsoft Account → Your Info → Edit Account Info

  2. Check that the email you want to connect is the primary account

If the email is not the primary, mark it as such by clicking Make primary. Secondary inboxes cannot connect.

3. Log in with Microsoft in Cloud Chat

After selecting Email and choosing Microsoft:

  1. Enter the email address

  2. Click Sign in with Microsoft — you will be redirected to Microsoft login

If you have other Microsoft accounts on the same machine, one may be autofilled. Log out of the previous Microsoft account before proceeding or — preferably — do this in private browsing.

4. Add agents

After redirection back to Cloud Chat, select the agents that will have access and click Add agents.

Done! Your Outlook/Microsoft 365 inbox is now integrated with Cloud Chat.

Path C — Other providers via IMAP/SMTP

Use when the inbox is from any other provider (Zimbra, Yahoo, self-hosted, etc.) — manual setup via IMAP/SMTP.

1. Enable IMAP on the provider

  1. Access your email settings

  2. Enable IMAP forwarding

  3. Copy the connection details (address, port)

2. Name the inbox in Cloud Chat

After selecting Email and choosing Other providers:

  1. Name the inbox and enter the email

  1. Click Create email channel

3. Add agents

Select the agents that will operate on the inbox and click Add agents.

4. Configure IMAP

  1. Click on More settings

  1. Go to Configuration and enable IMAP

  1. Enter address, port, login, and password

If your provider has two-factor authentication, use the app password generated — not the personal password.

Default address and port examples:

Provider IMAP address Port
Google imap.gmail.com 993

  1. Click Update to reconfigure IMAP settings

Step 5 — Configure SMTP

  1. Enable SMTP

  1. Enter address, port, login, and password (for two-factor, use app password)

Default SMTP address and port examples:

Provider SMTP address Port
Google smtp.gmail.com 587

  1. In the Domain field, enter the same as the SMTP address

For most cases, keep encryption options (SSL, authentication) at default (STARTTLS, none, login).

  1. Click Update to apply the SMTP configuration

Your email box is now connected to Cloud Chat.

Reconnecting in case of errors

Applicable for Google and Microsoft inboxes (Paths A and B). If there's an error, a red alert appears on the inbox.

To reconnect:

  1. Go to Settings → Inboxes → Settings

  2. Click Click here to reconnect in the red banner

  3. Log in again with Google or Microsoft as per the original method

It is not necessary to delete the inbox to reconnect.

Additional Notes