For those who don’t use webmail and use an external mail client such as Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird, you will be faced with a choice in how you gain access to your email through a remote server. You can choose to use POP (Post Office Protocol), or IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). But what are the differences between these two methods? Is one better than the other? And why?
POP is a protocol that basically downloads emails from the server onto your external mail client (or your computer). In most cases, as soon as the email is downloaded from the server, that email is deleted from the server as well, but you can easily change the settings to keep all emails on the server. If you have one computer and like backing up that computer on a regular basis, including your downloaded emails, then it’s not so bad to use POP to saved your organized folders. However, if you have multiple devices, you won’t be able to sync them with one another, which is a very big disadvantage. Imagine if you read an email from your mobile or foldered it and every time you signed into another device, you would have to redo the same steps as they are not synced. It’s time consuming and tedious!
IMAP is the more common protocol being used nowadays due to its ability to synchronize email actions among different devices. In other words, each time you read, folder or delete an email, the same action is reflected on every single one of your devices. Unlike POP, you don’t have to re-read or re-folder that email with each device. It also has a greater level of encryption. However, if you delete all the emails from one device, those changes will spread to all devices, which will be troublesome to those who don’t create regular backups.
In the end, both POP and IMAP protocols have their pros and cons. Whenever you’re in doubt, go with IMAP as it is more modern and saves you time by automatically synchronizing all of your emails between devices.
As web professionals, CryoDragon deals with servers and email accounts on a regular basis. If there’s one piece of advice we can give to others, it’s to make sure you have a backup of your emails no matter what and be sure which type of email protocol you are using! Contact us if you have any questions, or comment below to start a discussion!
