This is the first in a series of howto articles explaining how to do things that you should never under any circumstances want to do.
So the gmail web interface is a pretty straightforward usable interface for reading email. It neatly threads conversations together and has fairly simple vim like key shortcuts for navigating email.
Notes on the other hand is the least convenient mail client ever devised: it has a completely incomprehensible menu system and is very difficult to use to do anything using only the keyboard. On a mac, the default fonts are so small that no human being can read email at all (there’s a surprisingly elaborate fix for this that i might describe some other time).
So you might find yourself asking: how can i bring the unusability and inconvenience of lotus notes to reading my gmail mail?
The answer is to use IMAP:
In gmail, click ‘Settings’ > ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ and ensure the ‘IMAP is enabled’ radio button is selected. Now in notes, go to ‘Address Book’ > ‘Advanced’ > ‘Accounts’ > ‘New’ > ‘Account’. The account name can be whatever you want (notes will create a database with this name). The account server should be ‘imap.gmail.com’. The login name will be your full gmail email address. The password will obviously be your gmail password. Make sure the protocol is ‘IMAP online’ and that the port (in the advanced tab) is 993.
Voila, all the functionality you scarcely understand and despise to read your gmail.
Oh and by the way: you can cut and paste email between notes and gmail with the limitation that encrypted notes email will not be readable in gmail (and won’t be readable if you move it back).