NEW YORK — Google has made big changes to Gmail, the world’s most popular email service and now more than 2 billion users must decide how they want to use the updated platform. The changes mark one of the biggest shifts in Gmail in more than 20 years.

There is a support note, if you can find it. Here’s the link. “Starting January 2026,” Google tells users of the world’s most popular email platform, "Gmail will no longer support checking emails from third-party accounts through POP. The option to ‘Check mail from other accounts’ will no longer be available in Gmail on your computer."

The aim is to transform Gmail from a traditional inbox into what Google describes as a “personal, proactive inbox assistant.”

Under the shift, which Google said would eventually be rolled out to all users, old addresses would remain active. Messages and services would not be lost.