POP3 and IMAP are two different protocols used by e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Mozilla, Netscape and Eudora. POP3 and IMAP both are used to retrieve only mail from the server; POP3 and IMAP are not involved in sending mail.

When using POP3, upon login the e-mail client retrieves each message from your mailbox sequentially. Once the last message has been retrieved, most e-mail clients instruct the server to delete messages from your mailbox.

When using IMAP, upon login the e-mail client retrieves only the list of messages from your mailbox. A message itself is downloaded only when you click to "open" the message.

Thus, IMAP offers a more efficient access to your mailbox on the server, since it lets you have a quick glance at your messages without forcing you to download them all. With an IMAP connection you can delete messages from your mailbox without ever having to download them to your computer.

With an IMAP connection messages are not automatically deleted after you have downloaded them. You have to explicitly delete messages from your mailbox and empty the trash. Since messages are not automatically deleted from your mailbox, you can read new and old messages from any computer with an Internet connection.

Should you use IMAP or POP3? IMAP's superior features makes it a better choice.

Last modified 2005-02-07 17:24:42.