Which is better pop3 or imap4

In short, the changes you make to your email client on one device will still be in place when you access the email client from another device. The mail was stored on your computer instead of on the server so that you could read and respond while you were not connected to the internet. However, with the modern, "always-on" internet connections, this functionality is rarely needed anymore.

The majority of emails using POP are stored on the user's machine. Only incoming emails are stored on the server. By default, once the email account is accessed from another device, the server immediately hands the new emails over and deletes them on their end.

This leaves the only copy of the new email on the device. If another device accesses the email, it will not have access to the email that was downloaded on the previous device.

While it is possible to configure POP3 the most recent version of POP to keep email data stored on the server, this only applies to email messages. Customizations, like marking an email as read and unread, are not stored on the server and are not synced across devices.

However, this configuration is client-specific, so every client you use will need to be configured separately. If you're on the fence, we recommend using IMAP. Since it works with multiple devices, it's accessible even if you lose the original device. It also makes it easier to set up email customizations that will span across all devices.

However, we have compiled some use cases that might help inform your decision:. With IMAP, the message does not remain on the local device, such as a computer, it remains on the server. With POP3 mail, it will connect and attempt to keep the mail located on the local device computer or mobile. Pop3 vs. IMAP: Which is better? Can't find what you're looking for?

Contact our support team now. Open a Support Ticket. Live Chat. Request a callback from our Support Team Please select a 2 hour preferred callback timeframe from the drop-down and we will do our best to get back to you then. Last Name. If you've used Gmail, Outlook. To get to your webmail account, you access the Internet and sign in to your email account. Outlook, Apple Mail, and Thunderbird are email apps : programs that you install on your computer to manage your email. They interact with an email service such as Gmail or Outlook.

You can add any email account to your email app for it to manage your email. For example, you can add webmail accounts - Gmail, Outlook. When you add your email account to your email app, it will usually attempt to set it up with IMAP access, without any input from you. If the email app has difficulty adding your email account, it's usually because the email account is set up for POP access. In this case, you need to go to your email provider and find out the name of their POP and SMTP server so you can enter the info into the email app.

The info usually looks something like this:. Sync basics - what you can and cannot sync. Need more help? Expand your skills. Get new features first.