


The emails are not removed from the server after synchronisation. IMAP users, however, can access the same emails from different devices, unlike POP3 users.

But because it also keeps all of your emails and mail items on the server, additional storage is needed. Your recent mail items are kept locally on a machine through IMAP. One of the most used email retrieval methods for obtaining emails from the mail server is Internet Message Access Protocol, or IMAP. As a result, the protocol is suitable for users who access their emails on a single device, like a PC or laptop. Users cannot access the same emails on different devices because there is no synchronisation. POP3 enables users to receive emails from the server on a single device and then deletes the emails from the server’s Inbox folder. POP3, also known as Post Office Protocol 3, is the latest version of the email retrieval Post Office Protocol (POP), which was first established in 1985 to receive emails from the mail server. Learn about the two messaging protocols in this article, along with the methods to properly change from IMAP/MAPI account to POP3 email account without losing any mail items. Email clients like Outlook use these Message Accessing Agents (MAA) to access emails and other mail items from the mailbox server. There are two different methods to access emails: POP3 and IMAP/MAPI.
