Connect your Google account (Gmail or Google Workspace) to Distro

You connect a Google account from Outreach → Sending accounts: add the address you want to send from, click Enable next to Google account, and sign in with the Google account that owns that address. It takes about a minute. Distro never asks for your Google password; Google handles the sign-in.

Before you start

• Use the right Google account. Sign in with the account that owns the address you want to send from. If you want to send from an alias, add it to that Google account first, under Gmail's Send mail as setting (see Use a verified alias in Distro).
• Check your plan's mailbox limit. The free trial includes 1 sender mailbox, Growth includes 5 and Scale is unlimited (fair use). Aliases of an account you already connected don't use another slot.
• Workspace users: if your company restricts third-party apps, ask your admin first (see below).

Connect a Google account

1. In Distro, open Outreach and click Sending accounts (near the bottom of the Outreach menu). On the Outreach Overview, the Connect a Google account setup step takes you there too.
2. Click Add sender.
3. Enter the Name recipients should see and the Email address you want to send from, then click Save. The sender appears with the status Needs setup.
4. Under Email services, click Enable next to Google account.
5. If Distro shows a Before you continue to Google dialog, read it and click Continue to Google (see the next section).
6. Choose the Google account that owns the address and review the permissions Google shows you. Allow both permissions. If Google shows a checkbox for each permission, make sure both are ticked.
7. Google sends you back to the Sending accounts page. When it worked, you'll see a confirmation that the address is ready to send, and the sender's status changes to Active.

Your connected account now also appears under Google accounts on the same page, labelled Personal Google account (for @gmail.com addresses) or Google Workspace, with the status Connected.

Distro adds only the address you entered. If the Google account has other addresses, such as aliases, they are not added; under Google accounts you'll see how many, for example "2 more addresses on this account, not added." To use one, click Add sender again and enter it.

"Google hasn't verified this app"

Until Distro finishes the last step of Google's verification (an annual third-party security assessment), Google shows a notice saying it hasn't verified the app. Distro explains this in the Before you continue to Google dialog before you leave. To continue on Google's screen:

1. Click Advanced.
2. Click Go to usedistro.com (unsafe), then allow the two permissions Distro asks for.

Only continue if you are comfortable doing so. You can disconnect at any time, and What Google permissions Distro needs explains exactly what each permission is used for.

If the connection doesn't finish

Back on the Sending accounts page, Distro tells you what happened:

For more fixes, see Google account disconnected, permission error or connection failed.

Notes for Google Workspace admins

In Google Workspace, administrators decide which third-party apps can access users' Google data. If your organization blocks unapproved apps, or apps that request Gmail access, users may see an "access blocked" or "admin hasn't approved this app" message from Google when they click Enable.

If that happens:

1. Ask your Workspace admin to review Distro in the Google Admin console, in the section that controls third-party app access to Google data (often found under security and API controls).
2. The admin can allow Distro for your organization or for specific users. Distro asks only for the two Gmail permissions described in What Google permissions Distro needs.
3. Try Enable again once the admin has made the change. Admin changes can take a little while to apply.

Google moves and renames Admin console settings from time to time, so your admin should follow Google's current documentation for controlling third-party app access.

After you connect

• Each sender you add is checked against the account's Send mail as list, so a verified alias shows up as its own sender marked "Alias of …". See What is a sending identity?.
• Your first connected sender becomes your Default sender, which new campaigns pick automatically.
• Distro starts watching for replies from this point on. Older emails in your mailbox are not imported.
• Use Send test email from the sender's ⋮ menu to send a test to the sender's own address.
• The Sending accounts page is only for the accounts your campaigns send from. Your Distro login is in Account settings, and your plan is in Plan & billing, both in the profile menu (your avatar, top right).