The Difference Between IMAP and POP

Not sure whether to chose IMAP or POP when setting up your email client? Don’t worry. We’ll be going over the differences so you can chose the right protocol for you.

POP3 Protocol Explained:

POP3 should be used when you are only accessing your email from one device and want to store your emails there. If you set up your email client using POP and you check your email, all of the emails downloaded into the email client are removed from our email server completely after a set amount of time. This is great if you want to store all your email on your computer instead of on our servers. In doing so you’ll never run out of space for your email account because nothing will be stored with us. The disadvantage of this is that because emails are removed from our server you won’t be able to use multiple devices properly. You’ll get emails on your PC that won’t be on your iPhone.

IMAP Protocol Explained:

IMAP should be used when you want to access email from more than one device. With IMAP you’ll be able to access your email from your PC, phone, and tablet all at the same time. Because IMAP never deletes your emails from our servers you’ll always be in sync between devices. The disadvantage to this is that you’ll have to be careful with your inbox space. If using IMAP just make sure to delete junk or old emails to insure you never go over your space quota.

In Short:

If you want to store emails on your computer and only access email on one device, use POP3. And if you don’t mind deleting old emails to manage your inbox quota and want to access your email from more than one device, use IMAP.