Email & Senders
Connect Gmail or Google Workspace, set up sending identities and aliases, and understand SMTP and IMAP.
- How Distro sends emailDistro sends cold email through your own Gmail or Google Workspace mailbox using Google's Gmail API. No shared sending pool, no SMTP password, no IMAP setup.
- Gmail vs Google Workspace for cold emailDistro works with free Gmail and with Google Workspace. Here is what differs for cold email: your address, your domain, admin controls and Google's limits.
- Connect your Google account (Gmail or Google Workspace) to DistroStep-by-step guide to connecting your Google account in Outreach → Sending accounts, plus what to do if Google or your Workspace admin blocks it.
- What Google permissions Distro needs (and why)Distro asks Google for two Gmail permissions, one to send and one to read. Here is what each is used for, what Distro never does, and how to remove access.
- Disconnect or reconnect your Google accountHow to reconnect a Google account that needs attention, how to disconnect one, and what happens to your senders and campaigns in each case.
- What is a sending identity? (Sending accounts page)A sender is a name and address your campaigns send from. Learn how the Sending accounts page works, what each status means and how to set a default sender.
- Change your From name and Reply-To addressSet the From name recipients see, add a Reply-To address to a campaign or single email, and learn which settings Distro takes from Gmail.
- What is an email alias?An email alias is an extra address for a mailbox you already have. How aliases work in Google Workspace and Gmail, and how Distro sends from them.
- How to add a Google Workspace aliasAdd an alias to a Google Workspace user in the Admin console, make sure Gmail can send from it, then use it as a sender in Distro.
- Add another sending address in Gmail ("Send mail as")How Gmail's "Send mail as" setting works, when Gmail asks for verification or SMTP details, and how a new address becomes a sender in Distro.
- Send cold email from your custom-domain email addressThe three ways to send Distro campaigns from an address like you@yourcompany.com, which one fits your setup, and what each means for replies and deliverability.
- Use a verified alias in DistroPick a Gmail alias as the From address for a campaign or single email, set it as your default sender, and know what changes when the alias changes in Gmail.
- Why my alias is not showing in DistroYour alias is missing from Sending accounts or the campaign From list? Check these causes in order, from refresh to verification to the wrong Google account.
- Gmail is asking for SMTP settingsWhy Gmail asks for SMTP server details when you add a "Send mail as" address, where those details come from, and why Distro never needs them.
- SMTP vs IMAP: what Distro users need to knowSMTP sends email and IMAP reads it. Here's what that means for Distro, and why connecting Google needs no SMTP or IMAP credentials at all.
- Where to find SMTP settings from your email providerWhere to look for the SMTP server, port, username and security settings at common email providers, and how to check them before you add them to Gmail.
Still stuck?
Help & supportEmail us at hello@usedistro.com with what you tried and what you see. Signed in? Help & support in the app has walkthrough videos and a message form.