Post Updated on 17-Apr-2010. The earlier instructions were not needed on the new Pidgin anymore. Pidgin has now added a new Google Talk protocol which can be used to configure your Google Talk id.
Pidgin (earlier Gaim) is a multiple protocol Instant Messenger client which can be used to chat using MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Google Talk and many other protocols.
How to configure Pidgin to work with Google Talk (Use Pidgin to chat with your GTalk friends)
- Download & Install the latest version of Pidgin. On Kubuntu / Ubuntu you can just type
aptitude install pidgin
in terminal to install Pidgin.
- Open Pidgin and go to Accounts –> Manage Accounts –> Add window of Pidgin.
- From the drop-down box choose Google Talk as the Protocol.
- For the Screen name enter your Google Id (Gmail Id) just the user name without the @gmail.com in it.
- In the Password field enter your Google ID password.
That’s it. Now you can start chatting with your GTalk buddies using Pidgin while keeping in touch with users of other IM users also. No need to install GTalk software. 
Let us know if you have any problems configuring it.
3rasing
7 Dec 08 at 5:32 pm
Thank you so much, this wasn’t my first Pidgin installation but I just forgot how to configure gmail account
NetConstructor
11 Dec 08 at 9:04 am
Guys – Regarding use Google Apps (Google’s Hosted Domain Services) for gmail chat (gchat/google chat) follow these directions!
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=49147
Hari
13 Dec 08 at 2:46 pm
I just love PIDGIN. It’s awesome man. By the way thank you guys for the how to configure gmail in Pidgin. I was having some trouble first but no after reading through this I was able to fix it. Thanks once again.
name
15 Dec 08 at 7:04 am
Thanks for wrtiting this up. It was useful. I got it working on Debian Etch, pidgin 2.4.3 (downloaded from backports)!
Sunny
21 Dec 08 at 11:39 pm
Hi…….Friends
My music track was not show on my Gatalk .
What i have to do….Pls tell me fris….
I finished to do eveything…means window media player/options/plug-in/background…. then i was not see anythings…..
Pls, fris help…….
Moss
8 Jan 09 at 11:07 am
I ‘m translate it to thai in my blog. Thank you for how to Troubleshooting
Nikhil
12 Jan 09 at 3:32 pm
I am getting “Read Error” while connecting.
I have done the settings mentioned in one of the comments. Can anyone help me out to resolve this error:)
Thanks in advance.
Hotels
13 Jan 09 at 9:18 pm
The settings proposed by Katie Craven (above) work just fine for me! Thank you Katie!
...??
17 Jan 09 at 10:59 am
I’m really new to Pidgin, I’ve been following ALL the instructions and suggestions, yet I still can’t add my Google Talk/Gmail account, I’m using Vista 32 bit.
I keep getting the “host unknown error”; sorry if this has already been mentioned, any help?
Brent Reifers
24 Jan 09 at 5:57 pm
I get this message when I try to send an IM to an offline user. Do you know if they need to be logged in?
XMPP Message Error
Message delivery to xxxxx@gmail.com failed: (Code 503) error when trying to send messages.
I can’t find anywhere that explains this error code. Can you tell me whats up?
perito
30 Jan 09 at 3:29 pm
To make oneself invisible on a google talk account, paste the following into the XMPP Console (Tools > Plugins >XMPP Consol (normally at the bottom) enable it:
5
5
Repeat the above step whenever you want to refresh the buddy list..
# The last line of the code causes the server to return Email Notifications. #
perito
30 Jan 09 at 3:32 pm
To make oneself invisible on a google talk account, paste the following into the XMPP Console (Tools > Plugins >XMPP Consol (normally at the bottom) enable it:
* Replace eveyr ( to *
* for some reason this website does not post there characters *
(presence)
(priority)5(/priority)
(/presence)
(presence type=”unavailable”)
(priority)5(/priority)
(/presence)
(iq type=’get’)(query xmlns=’google:mail:notify’/)(/iq)
Repeat the above step whenever you want to refresh the buddy list..
# The last line of the code causes the server to return Email Notifications. #
perito
30 Jan 09 at 3:34 pm
One more time *dammit*
To make oneself invisible on a google talk account, paste the following into the XMPP Console (Tools > Plugins >XMPP Consol (normally at the bottom) enable it:
* Replace every ) to > AND ( to < *
* for some reason this website does not post there characters *
(presence)
(priority)5(/priority)
(/presence)
(presence type=”unavailable”)
(priority)5(/priority)
(/presence)
(iq type=’get’)(query xmlns=’google:mail:notify’/)(/iq)
Repeat the above step whenever you want to refresh the buddy list..
# The last line of the code causes the server to return Email Notifications. #
Lee
6 Feb 09 at 5:13 am
All worked well, thanks man! Other people’s setting were crap as was the google help.
James Laver
9 Feb 09 at 4:17 pm
Found an undocumented little ‘feature’ that prevented me from connecting, quite accidentally – the resource must have an initial capital letter, otherwise you get ‘not authorised’ errors when you try to connect.
lizkingx
11 Feb 09 at 4:00 am
I am trying to setup Pidgin on PortableApps for gtalk, msn, and yahoo. I have tried everything above but it is still not working. Please help.
Basic setup
Protocol: XMPP
username: xxxxxxxx
Domain: googlemail.com
Resource: Home
Password: yyyyyyy
Local alias: zzzzzz
Advanced Setup
Require SSL/TLS: Un-checked
Force old (port 5223) SSL: Checked
Allow plaintext: Checked
Connect port: 443
connect Serve: talk.google.com
File Transfer proxies: proxy.jabber.org:7777
Proxy Type: Global
I have the above setting and it still does not work. Please some help.
MaxBV
19 Feb 09 at 11:25 pm
It worked for me by putting 209.85.137.125 as Connect Server and having Require SSL/TLS checked.
http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/4364 has information about firewall forcing the encryption off.
Vignesh
23 Feb 09 at 1:53 pm
Hey thanks a lot man. I had trouble in getting pidgin work with gtalk. Now its working
Raghav
24 Feb 09 at 11:22 am
Thanks Manas!
Amol
24 Feb 09 at 11:52 am
Thank You for the great info. Now i am able to configure gtalk on my ubuntu machine with pidgin.
Richard
8 Mar 09 at 2:58 pm
Hi,
not authorized message for all buddies,,,,,
Nitesh
11 Mar 09 at 9:16 pm
Hi,
i tried with the above settings but……..its says that “Not Authorized”…..
can anyone help pls…
adule
15 Mar 09 at 4:46 pm
thanks a tons
Umar
21 Mar 09 at 10:14 pm
it totally worked..thanks
Shantanu
22 Mar 09 at 10:36 pm
There can be more issues with gtalk and pidgin, e.g., if you company blocks it. Here is a method to overcome this
:
http://tech.shantanugoel.com/2008/09/08/hack-pidgin-gtalk-connection-problems-get-around-the-corporate-firewall.html
jura
26 Mar 09 at 1:25 am
Hi, i installed pidgin on windows vista x64 and first time i ran it it worked just fine. Then i restarted windows and now it can connect to IRC,gtalk and MSN but i can’t see any contacts. I can connect to IRC chat. Any idea why my contacts are not showing?
Btw, i had pidgin instaled on ubuntu 8.10 and windows xp sp3 with same accounts and never had any problems.
jura
26 Mar 09 at 1:36 am
I tried reinstall and it still doesn’t show any contacts…
Rahmat
3 Apr 09 at 3:15 pm
I has been tried, but can’t login.
sreekar
6 Apr 09 at 11:54 am
thanks for the info manas…
Oga
7 Apr 09 at 5:44 pm
Works on Fedora 10.
Thank you very much for Tutorial.
artunulphe
11 Apr 09 at 1:27 pm
Thanks for the tutorial. One little advices for those who are changing the set-up every 5 seconds and get no result in connecting: the connection can be slow to be establish, just wait a little to make sure you have the wrong set up.
cliodruze
18 Apr 09 at 3:49 am
As MaxBV said above, putting 209.85.137.125 as the Connect Server and also checking “Require SSL/TLS” worked for me (using Windows Vista Ultimate).
The above tutorial did not work, but the other suggestion did.
karam
22 May 09 at 11:01 am
Hello Every Body..
i ‘ve added my gmail account in the pidgin but it not gettting connected.
I THINK I’VE SOME PROBLEM WITH PREFERENCES N SETTING.
I ‘VE SET IT TO AUTODETECT iP ADDRESS.
karam
22 May 09 at 11:02 am
PLEASE help me regarding that …
thanks
priyanka chauhan
31 May 09 at 7:00 pm
Hi, i hav loaded pidgin, bt not able to get that howz it going to work with gtalk…can anybody help me in this?
Harsha
10 Jun 09 at 9:39 am
Thanks a lot. My Pidgin used to work fine but stopped suddenly. Setting the port number in the advanced tab fixed it
love2spooge
13 Jun 09 at 7:11 pm
it helped, thx.
Saverio Miroddi
22 Jun 09 at 12:14 am
Thanks, I was quite puzzled by connecting to my domain account
Aamir
27 Jun 09 at 11:59 pm
Thanks Pidgin rocks!!!!!!!
sue
4 Jul 09 at 7:39 am
Great! It works! Thanks
dstefi88
16 Jul 09 at 8:15 pm
Thank you so much for the help, at last checking the enable checkbox solved my problem.
Daver
18 Jul 09 at 5:15 am
Finally got GTalk over Pidgin working – talking to ping.fm
Posting my settings in case it helps someone.
Pidgin, version 2.5.8 on winXPHome
Pidgin Account:
(Basic settings)
Protocol: XMPP
Username:
Domain: gmail.com
Resource: Home (some people have said this must begin with a capital letter! hmm)
Password: youareadoofus
Remember password: checked (always remember you are a doofus)
New Mail notifications: unchecked (this is annoying, I use Thunderbird to access gmail)
(Advanced Settings)
Require SSL/TLS: unchecked
Force old (port 5223) SSL: checked
allow plaintext auth.:checked
connect port: 443
connect server: talk.google.com
file transfer proxies: proxy.jabber.org
proxy type: use global proxy settings
Did *not* have to configure firewall on my Netgear router (& don’t use software one)
Make sure account is enabled (accounts->manage accounts) – tick the box!
At this stage you should **not** be seeing “Not Authorized” errors at the bottom of the Pidgin app.
If all is well and you want “ping.fm” access, add Buddy:
username: pingdotfm@gmail.com
alias: Ping.fm !!
You should be able to send an IM to “Ping.fm” now, it will ask for an auth code that you get from your ping account.
Awesome when it finally works!
Good luck
Daver
18 Jul 09 at 5:19 am
XML filter seems to have blocked a comment above, sorry!
(Basic settings)
Username: your.google.profile (without the @gmail)
Dani
2 Aug 09 at 3:58 am
Perfect! Thanks….
mOJOjOJO
17 Aug 09 at 7:06 pm
I had tried to use GTalk in Pidgin in Ubintu but without success. Now I have installed OPENsuse 11.1 and now Gtalk is working in Pidgin. I use proxy settings to connect to the internet.
Harsha
17 Aug 09 at 8:11 pm
Ur initial instructions of changing advanced settings worked for me. Thanks a bunch
Tejas
25 Aug 09 at 1:17 pm
Hi All.
I tried all settings. But getting error SSL Connection failed.
can anybody help me to make it connected..
mOJOjOJO
25 Aug 09 at 5:47 pm
I used the following settings and now it workking both in openSUSE 11.1 and Ubuntu 9.04
—Basic Settings—
Protocol : XMPP
Username :
Domain : gmail.com
Resource : Home
Password :
Remember password : checked
New Mail notifications : checked
—Advanced Settings—
Require SSL/TLS : checked
Force old (port 5223) SSL : checked
allow plaintext auth. : unchecked
connect port : 443
connect server : talk.google.com
file transfer proxies : proxy.jabber.org
proxy type : manual proxy settings [I use proxy settings(without authentication) to connect to LAN and internet]
Andrew
2 Sep 09 at 3:37 pm
Very helpful, but you should edit this to reflect that it might not actually connect at all if you have nothing entered in “Resources”. When I filled it in with “Home” instead (no quotes), it fired right up.
Roel
6 Sep 09 at 9:33 pm
Had troubles connecting to google talk after switching from Ubuntu to Linux Mint. The advanced tab settings in this article did the job. Thnx!