Thunderbird is a free, open-source, cross-platform application for managing email, newsfeeds, chat, and newsgroups. One great feature of Thunderbird is that it can work seamlessly with Google Gmail, synchronizing messages between your local version of Thunderbird and your web-based Gmail account. Here's how to access Gmail via Thunderbird on your desktop.
Configure Thunderbird to use Gmail email accounts (IMAP/SMTP)
In order for Thunderbird to integrate well with Gmail, the first step is to enable IMAP on your Gmail account. IMAP is enabled by default on newer Gmail accounts, so only check this if you have an older Gmail account.
On your computer, go to the Gmail site.
Select the gear icon in the top right corner.
