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App Specific Passwords for Gmail

Changes to Google’s security policies at the end of May could affect your ability to send/receive @Gmail address mail from PCRecruiter. Setting up an app specific password will help to keeps your Google account login secure and in sync with PCRecruiter.

Creating App Specific Passwords for your Gmail account improves your security and may be imperative for PCRecruiter users who have an @gmail.com account linked to the database for incoming or outgoing mail.

Secure your Gmail with app specific passwordsAs of June 2022, Google no longer supports the use of your primary Gmail username and password when connecting from third-party apps and devices. These changes imposed by Google are part of a strategy to strengthen account and application security.

One of Google’s alternative options is App Specific Passwords, which are additional passwords for your Gmail account that you designate for use by one specific site or app. Creating separate passwords, rather than using your main Google password across multiple apps and sites, isolates any security risks to one site or service. If that App Specific Password should ever be compromised, it can be disabled without interrupting or exposing any other services associated with your Gmail login.

How does this affect PCRecruiter users?

This new policy will only affect users of @gmail.com addresses. It is not currently being applied to Google Workspace or Google Cloud Identity accounts. If you are using Google’s email servers but have your own domain name associated with the account, you may continue to use your existing password, but we do recommend switching to a more secure method for security’s sake.

In regards to our recruiting software, PCRecruiter, this policy change should only impact your ability to send or receive email within PCRecruiter if you are using an @gmail address with a standard Google password.

Example Sign in with Google Button
Google Sign In Button Example

You will find Sign in with Google buttons on PCR’s Outgoing Mail (SMTP) screens. These are the preferred method of connecting your Gmail account to PCRecruiter. If you see a button like the one shown here and use it to authenticate with your Google Account, an App Specific Password is not necessary.

Setting up the App Specific password option is a viable method of upgrading your security with PCRecruiter or any other services you may be using your plain Gmail password on when no Sign in with Google method is available. For those using IMAP to read or write activities for incoming mail, App Specific passwords are required at this time. See Google’s info on creating these app-specific passwords here.

If you need further assistance, contact PCRecruiter Support.

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