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If you have ever set up an email client or app, you will have certainly come across the terms POP and IMAP. Do you remember which one you chose and why? If you are not quite sure what these terms stand for and how each affects your email account, this article will shed some light. The article explains how POP and IMAP work and will help you decide which one best fits your needs.
IMAP is short for Internet Message Access Protocol, while POP translates to Post Office Protocol. In other words, both are email protocols. They allow you to read emails locally using a third party application. Examples of such applications are Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, GNUMail, or (Mac) Mail.
The original protocol is POP. It was created in 1984 as a means to download emails from a remote server. IMAP was designed in 1986 to allow remote access to emails stored on a remote server. Essentially, the main difference of the two protocols is that POP downloads emails from the server for permanent local storage, while IMAP leaves them on the server and just caches (temporarily stores) emails locally. In other words, IMAP is a form of cloud storage.
How Do POP & IMAP Compare?
The two protocols are best compared by looking at their most basic workflows.
POP Workflow:
*The default behavior of POP is to delete mail from the server. However, most POP clients also provide an option to leave a copy of downloaded mail on the server.
IMAP Workflow:
As you can see, the IMAP workflow is a little more complex than POP. Essentially, folder structures and emails are stored on the server and only copies are kept locally. Typically, these local copies are stored temporarily. However, you can also store them permanently.
What Are The Advantages Of POP?
Being the original protocol, POP follows the simplistic idea that only one client requires access to mail on the server and that mails are best stored locally. This leads to the following advantages:
What Are The Advantages Of IMAP?
As mentioned in the introduction, IMAP was created to allow remote access to emails stored on a remote server. The idea was to allow multiple clients or users to manage the same inbox. So whether you log in from your home or your work computer, you will always see the same emails and folder structure since they are stored on the server and all changes you make to local copies are immediately synced to the server.
As a result, IMAP has the following advantages:
What Is The Best Email Protocol For Me?
Obviously, it depends on your specific variables and you probably have an idea of what is best suited for your situation already. The points below should help to make a final decision.
Choose POP If…
Choose IMAP If…
If in doubt, go with IMAP. It’s the more modern protocol, it allows you to be flexible, your email is automatically backed up on the server, available server space usually isn’t an issue these days, and you can still store important emails locally.
What protocol did you choose and do you think you need to revise your decision?
More Articles On This Topic
How Does An Email Server Work? [Technology Explained]
6 Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Desktop Email Clients In Favour Of Web-Based Options
3 Ways To Sync Thunderbird Emails Across Multiple Computers
How To Download & Back Up Your Gmail & Other Google Data
Resources
Post Office Protocol – Wikipedia
Internet Message Access Protocol – Wikipedia
IMAP vs. POP – University of Minnesota
Image credits: Secure Email via Shutterstock, Mail Sending via Shutterstock, Email via Shutterstock
Originally published on MakeUseOf.com. Great site, check it out.
2012-08-15 11:20:06