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Explaining the entries in the Gmail Account Information window

The Gmail Activity Information (formerly known as the Gmail Last Account Activity) window presents the easiest way to check for unauthorized account access or suspicious activities within Gmail. One can access that window by clicking on the Details link below the Last account activity link at the bottom-right of the Gmail Inbox page in the Gmail standard web UI.


Note: In certain inbox layouts, such as Unread First with the Preview pane enabled and a conversation selected, you may not see the Details link. In that case, simply reload the page to see that option in the preview pane.

The window includes the last ten entries when your Gmail was accessed using web browsers, POP/IMAP email clients, Gmail or third-party mobile apps, any other Google apps, etc. and lists the IP address that accessed your email, the associated location, as well as the time and date.


As shown, some of the entries will have a “Show details” link next to them to display additional information when clicked upon.

All these references and details can be confusing to many. This blog intends to present a ready-reckoner which even the basic user can refer to when they perceive an entry in that window as suspicious and want to check it out.

The common entries one can find in the Gmail Last Account Activity window are as follows:

Browser:


This entry refers to desktop browsers. For additional clarity, Google also lists the name and the version of the browser.

POP3:

This refers to two scenarios and includes details of (a) any email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mail for Mac or Apple Mail which is set up to access your Gmail via the POP3 protocol


or (b) any other Gmail account* which is set to fetch emails from your Gmail account using POP3. The name of the fetching Gmail address is displayed for easy recognition.


* When emails in Gmail get fetched from non-Gmail accounts, the fetching server will show up as an Authorized Application.

There is another way to differentiate. For (a), the IP address of your ISP or carrier will show. For (b), Google’s IP address will be displayed.

Authorized Application:

This entry can be of four types:

  • Third-party email apps like iPhone Mail.
  • IMAP based emails clients like Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mail for Mac or Apple Mail among others.
  • Unreferenced Authorized Application entries are accesses from either the Google app or other Google product/services apps like Google Photos, etc. You should be able to recreate this by opening one such app, visiting the Manage my account page in that app and confirming this is how such accesses are listed on the Gmail Account Information page.
  • When emails in Gmail get fetched from non-Gmail accounts. The fetching domain is listed as an authorized application. The IP address shown is that of the fetching server. Yahoo!’s in this case.

Authorized Application ():

This is a new entry. The oddity about this one is, it shows up as shown below


However, when the "Show details" link is clicked, no additional details are shown making it impossible to determine what that entry refers to.


Currently, this issue is under escalation with the relevant Gmail team. But, having said that, there's a way we can consistently recreate this entry by ourselves.
  1. Log in to Gmail, and then click on the Last Account Activity Details link at the bottom right.
  2. In the Activity Information window, click on the link within "Visit Security Checkup for more details".
  3. You can see an entry for Authorized Application ().
Note: From what is known, it disappears after a few minutes. If and when you refresh the security checkup webpage, it will appear again.

Mobile:

These would typically indicate access from the mobile browser(s). Mobile Chrome, any default Android browser, etc.

Unknown:

This entry may show up for various reasons, but one way to consistently recreate it is by signing into multiple accounts on a web browser, and then using the second account to do something simple such as create a new contact. Once the new contact is created, the “Unknown” shows up in the Account Information window for the second account.

As this can be consistently replicated, irrespective of how mysterious it looks, it is something that shows up because of something internal to Gmail (especially when multiple accounts are signed in) and not anything that threatens the security of your Google account.


Last updated on: March 7, 2024.

Comments

  1. Unknown8 November 2021 at 15:11

    How I send e mail to you sir

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somnath8 November 2021 at 18:19

      Because of several unpleasant previous experiences, I have chosen not to include the option for others to email me. If you have an issue, you are welcome to either include a generic description (without revealing any personal information) under the appropriate blog title here, or based on the nature of your issue, find the best forum for help here: https://support.google.com/.

      Delete

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