Choosing between POP or IMAP to check your emails

Procédure

Objective

This guide will help you choose the most appropriate e-mail reception protocol for your use.

You will understand the difference between IMAP and POP and know which one to choose depending on how you check your e-mail.

Hostings concerned

This article concerns LWS e-mail addresses associated with :

• a domain name
• LWS web hosting

The choice of protocol is made when configuring an e-mail address in an e-mail program.

The configuration steps are explained in specific guides depending on the software used for our domain, LWS Panel and Windows ASP.NET packages, but also for our cPanel and Cloud cPanel packages.

IMAP or POP: what's the difference?

IMAP and POP are two email reception protocols.
They determine how your e-mails are stored and accessed.

The main difference is where the emails are stored.

The IMAP protocol

With IMAP, e-mails remain stored on the mail server.

Email software simply displays a synchronised copy of the mailbox.

If an action is carried out on one device (delete, move, read), it is reflected on all the other devices.

Advantages of IMAP

• synchronisation between several devices
• access to email from anywhere
• identical folders on all devices
• back-up of e-mails on the server

This protocol is currently the most widely used.

Disadvantages of IMAP

• generally requires an Internet connection to view e-mails
• emails take up storage space on the server.
• a mailbox containing many large attachments may reach its storage limit more quickly.

When to choose IMAP

IMAP is recommended if :

• you check your e-mail on several devices
• You use a smartphone and a computer.
• You want to find the same folders and messages everywhere.

The POP protocol

With POP, emails are downloaded to the device that is reading the email.

Depending on the settings in your email software :

• E-mails can be deleted from the server
• or leave a copy on the server

In most cases, messages are stored locally on the device.

Advantages of POP

• E-mails are stored on your computer.
• can be viewed offline
• reduces the amount of space used on the server
• suitable for large e-mails with important attachments

For example :

• high-resolution photos
• architectural plans
• large documents

In these cases, POP allows you to move e-mails quickly to your computer without saturating the server's storage space.

Disadvantages of POP

• Email is not generally synchronised between devices.
• An e-mail downloaded to one device may not appear on the others.
• Folders may be different depending on the device used.
• If the computer is lost or damaged, e-mails stored locally may be lost.

When to choose POP

POP may be recommended if :

• you check your e-mail from a single computer
• you receive a lot of large attachments
• You want to archive your emails locally.
• You often work without an Internet connection.

Summary: which protocol to choose?

In most cases, IMAP is the simplest choice, but POP may be preferable for certain specific uses.

Common errors when choosing between IMAP and POP

There are a number of common errors when choosing an e-mail reception protocol. Knowing what they are can help you avoid problems later on.

Choosing POP when using several devices

The most common mistake is to configure an email address as POP when it is used on several devices (computer, smartphone, tablet).

With POP, emails are generally downloaded to the first device that picks up the email. They may therefore :

• not appear on other devices
• appear as if they have already been read
• disappear from the server, depending on the settings used

If you check your email on several devices, IMAP is generally the best choice.

Underestimating the storage space used with IMAP

With IMAP, e-mails remain stored on the mail server.

If you regularly receive :

• photos
• large documents
• professional files (plans, archives, etc.)

your mailbox may reach its storage limit more quickly.

In this case, it may be useful to :

• regularly delete unnecessary e-mails
• archive certain messages on a computer
• or consider using POP for certain specific purposes.

Thinking that POP automatically backs up email

POP stores e-mails locally on the device that downloads them.

However, if this device :

• breaks down
• is lost
• or suffers a software problem

Locally stored e-mails can be lost if they are not backed up.

It is therefore important to have regular back-ups if you use POP.

Not anticipating a change of protocol

Changing protocol after the initial configuration can be more complex.

Switching from IMAP to POP is generally straightforward, as e-mails remain on the server.

On the other hand, switching from POP to IMAP may require additional handling in order to keep e-mails that have already been downloaded to the computer.

It is therefore advisable to choose the most suitable protocol from the outset.

Choosing IMAP when you're often working offline

IMAP works mainly in connection with the mail server.

If you regularly work :

• without an Internet connection
• in areas with an unstable network

POP may be more suitable, as e-mails are stored directly on your computer.

Conclusion

You can now tell the difference between the POP and IMAP protocols so that you can make the right choice according to your needs for configuring the emails attached to your web hosting package on a messaging software.