SMTP Settings for Gmail and Microsoft 365

A person’s SMTP settings let ProcessPlan send email from that person’s own mailbox instead of from ProcessPlan’s address. ProcessPlan uses them whenever an email is sent as that person, for example an Email action whose Email ‘Reply To’ Address is that person.

An account with a Google or Microsoft integration doesn’t use these settings, except for the few emails that can’t use the integration, such as one sent while somebody responds to a task through a public link. Send Test Email still tests them, so it can pass even though that account’s other email doesn’t use them.

This page lists what to enter for Gmail and Microsoft 365. To find where the settings go, see Configuring SMTP Settings.

Gmail

Setting	What to enter
User name	Your Gmail address
Password	A Google app password (see below), not your regular password
Host name	smtp.gmail.com
Port number	587
Enable SSL	Checked

Google doesn’t accept your regular account password for SMTP. Turn on 2-Step Verification for your Google account, then create an app password (see Google’s help article on app passwords). Enter that app password in the Password box. You manage both on your Google account security page.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 was previously called Office 365. The settings below are for a work or school mailbox in your organization’s Microsoft 365.

Microsoft turns off password sign-in for SMTP at the end of December 2026

ProcessPlan signs in to Microsoft 365 with the user name and password in these settings. Microsoft calls this basic authentication.

At the end of December 2026, Microsoft turns basic authentication for SMTP off by default in existing Microsoft 365 organizations. From then on, emails sent through these settings fail until your administrator turns it back on. Microsoft says administrators will still be able to do that, and that it will announce a date in 2027 when it is removed for good.

Microsoft has moved these dates before, so check Microsoft’s announcement for the latest.

The Microsoft integration needs no passwords

Instead of SMTP settings, your account can use the Microsoft integration. Somebody signs in to Microsoft once for one mailbox, and your processes’ email then goes out from that mailbox, with replies going to the right person. It doesn’t sign in with a stored password, so the December 2026 change above doesn’t affect it. See Integrations.

An account with a Microsoft integration doesn’t use people’s SMTP settings for these emails, even before the integration is connected. To use them instead, remove the integration.

Enter the settings

Setting	What to enter
User name	The person’s full Microsoft 365 email address
Password	The password for that mailbox
Host name	smtp.office365.com
Port number	587
Enable SSL	Checked

The User name must be the same address as the person’s email address in ProcessPlan. ProcessPlan sends the email from the person’s ProcessPlan address, and Microsoft refuses to send from any address other than the mailbox that signed in, unless your administrator has given that mailbox permission to send as the other one.

What your Microsoft 365 administrator needs to allow

Many Microsoft 365 organizations block SMTP sign-in, and Microsoft recommends allowing it only for the mailboxes that need it. Three things decide whether it works:

1. Authenticated SMTP for the mailbox - In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users > Active users, select the person, then select Mail > Manage email apps. Check Authenticated SMTP and select Save changes.

2. Security defaults - If security defaults are turned on in Microsoft Entra ID, SMTP sign-in is blocked for the whole organization, even for a mailbox with Authenticated SMTP checked. Microsoft’s only way around this is to turn security defaults off, which is your administrator’s decision.

3. Sign-in policies - A policy that turns off basic authentication for SMTP blocks it too. So does a Conditional Access policy that blocks legacy authentication or requires multi-factor sign-in, because ProcessPlan can only send a password and can’t answer a multi-factor prompt.

Microsoft’s own instructions, including the PowerShell commands, are in Enable or disable SMTP AUTH in Exchange Online.

Send a test email

After you enter the settings, click Send Test Email below them. ProcessPlan saves the settings, then sends a test message from the person’s mailbox to your own email address. SMTP Email Successful means Microsoft accepted it. Check that the message arrives.

Don’t leave settings saved that fail

Once a person has SMTP settings saved, every email sent as them goes through their mailbox. If Microsoft refuses the sign-in, the email fails. ProcessPlan doesn’t fall back to sending it from its own address.

Send Test Email saves the settings even when the test fails. So if you can’t get the test to pass, clear the person’s SMTP settings and save. Their emails then go out from ProcessPlan’s own address, with replies still going to them.

If the test fails

Most failures come from one of these:

• SMTP sign-in isn’t allowed - Authenticated SMTP is off for the mailbox, or security defaults or a sign-in policy blocks it. See What your Microsoft 365 administrator needs to allow.

• The password is wrong - It may have been changed in Microsoft 365 after it was saved here. Enter the current password.

• The User name is a different address - It must match the person’s email address in ProcessPlan.

• Microsoft has turned off basic authentication - From the end of December 2026 this is the default. Your administrator can turn it back on until Microsoft removes it for good.

If your organization won’t allow SMTP sign-in

You have two options:

• Leave the person’s SMTP settings empty - Emails sent as them come from ProcessPlan’s own address, with the sender name your email action sets, and replies go to them. Nothing changes in Microsoft 365.

• Use an email-sending service - Some services accept SMTP sign-in with a user name and password, and can send from your company’s addresses once you verify your domain with them. Enter that service’s settings instead of Microsoft’s.

Outlook.com, Hotmail and Live.com

Personal Microsoft accounts, such as Outlook.com, Hotmail and Live.com addresses, can’t be used. Since September 16, 2024, Microsoft has refused password sign-in from other apps for these mailboxes (see Microsoft’s notice). ProcessPlan’s SMTP settings sign in with a password, so Microsoft refuses them.

Use a Microsoft 365 work mailbox, or another email provider, instead.