Technology: Synchronize Your Email (and more) on Multiple Devices

If you are like me, you use more than one computer plus mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and you likely have more than one email account.  I would often receive notice on my mobile phone of an email on my personal email account while at work.  To respond, my options were to wait until I could get to my home PC, access Verizon’s terrible web mail client from work, or use the tiny keyboard on my phone.

Then I found an elegant solution to the problem with Easy-Email.  Now I can access all my email accounts on all my computers using Mozilla’s Thunderbird email client, and the changes I make are automatically synchronized among all my devices.  (And I’m not limited to Thunderbird; I’ve also set up the solution on Outlook before moving back to the speed and power of Thunderbird.)

The gents behind Easy-Email provide guides that contain step-by-step instructions for setting up a robust, multi-computer, multi-account email solution.  Essentially, the solution employs the advanced email capabilities of Google Gmail in conjunction with the major email client of your choice to consolidate your accounts.  Gmail serves as the central repository while your email client on each computer reflects any change made to your email folders.  Note that all the email you receive or send is available on each computer you set up in the system.  That is, you can send an email from one PC and have that email available in the Sent folder on every other PC.  In my case, I can send and receive email from my work PC, laptop, netbook, and home PC on any of my four email accounts, in addition to my iPad and mobile phone.  I’ve also set up my contacts and calendar using another guide from Easy-Email with similar synchronization capabilities.

I have encountered a couple of minor issues with the system I’ve set up.  First, running your email through Google Gmail can delay incoming messages; the delays I’ve experienced have ranged from a few minutes normally to an hour or more on occasion.  Second, I have run across one strict mail server that seems to dislike Gmail and rejects random messages.  For my purposes the benefits of the email system outweigh these minor drawbacks.  Your mileage may vary.

The guides are well-written with plentiful screen shots, and the authors respond to questions on the site’s forum quickly.  The cost is minimal, so you can try it without a huge investment.  To learn more, check out the Easy-Email site at: http://www.easy-email.net/  You might find solutions to multiple annoyances you just live with today.  (Note: This article was written earlier this year for another purpose.)