Chapter 8 · 8.7
IMAP or POP3: what's the difference?
When setting up your mail program, you need to choose between IMAP and POP3. These are two ways of retrieving your mail. Almost always choose IMAP.
| IMAP (recommended) | POP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Where is your mail stored? | On the server. Your mail program shows a copy. | On your own device. It's downloaded from the server. |
| Multiple devices | The same everywhere: read, deleted and moved applies on all your devices and in webmail. | Each device retrieves mail on its own. What arrives on one device may not show up on another. |
| Folders and sent mail | Stored on the server, so also on your phone and in webmail. | Only on the device where you create or send them. |
| Space on the server | All your mail counts towards your storage. | Little, if the mail is removed from the server after downloading. |
| If your computer breaks down | Your mail is still on the server. | Your mail is gone if you don't have a backup. |
| Port | 993 (SSL/TLS) | 995 (SSL/TLS) |
Why do we recommend IMAP?
Almost everyone reads their mail on more than one device: a computer, a phone, sometimes a tablet or webmail. With IMAP, everything is the same everywhere. What's more, WebOké makes a backup of your package every night, including your mail on the server.
When should you use POP3?
POP3 can be useful if you read your mail on just one computer and want to use little space on the server. In that case, enable the option in your mail program to keep a copy of messages on the server (possibly for a number of days), otherwise you won't be able to see mail anywhere else once it's been downloaded. Also make sure you back up your computer yourself.
Don't mix them
If you use POP3 on one device and IMAP on another, they'll work against each other. If the POP3 device retrieves the mail from the server, it will disappear for the IMAP device and webmail. So use IMAP on all your devices.
Switching from POP3 to IMAP
Most mail programs can't convert an existing account from POP3 to IMAP. Instead, add the address again as an IMAP account. Mail that has already been downloaded to your computer via POP3 is no longer on the server. If you want that mail on your other devices too, drag it in your mail program from the old POP3 folders to the folders of the new IMAP account. Keep an eye on the space in your mailbox while doing this (see Storage per mailbox and what happens when it's full). Then delete the old POP3 account.