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29 June 2020

Difference between IMAP and POP3

Today you are going to learn exactly whether you should be using SMTP or IMAP. In fact, there is a major difference between the two protocols. In this article, we will help you understand the difference between SMTP and IMAP to better understand this topic.


What is IMAP?


IMAP stands for internet access message protocol is an email protocol that deals with managing and retrieving email messages from the receiving server. IMAP deals with message retrieval. You will not be able to use the IMAP protocol to send an email. Instead, IMAP is used for receiving messages.
What is POP3?


POP3 stands for post office protocol revision 3. This protocol handles the receiving of an email message from your mail server. It is important to know that if you access your email account via POP3, once your message is download to your local computer, they are removed from the server. This makes it impractical if you would like to read your email in more than one place.


The main key difference between IMAP and POP3

  • IMAP stands for internet message access protocol, While POP3 means post office protocol.
  • IMAP is the first IMAP was developed by marks crisping in 1986 as a potential alternative to POP, the original POP was introduced in 1984 as simple means to access emails on a remote server.
  • IMAP is an application-layer internet standard protocol used when you need to access your email from multiple devices.
  • IMAP emails are stored on the server, POP3 emails are stored on a single device.
  • IMAP is any change made on one device will be reflected on other, While in POP3 is any change made on one device won't be replicated on others.
  • IMAP is ideal for users who use multiple devices to access their emails, while in POP3 ideal for those who access their email from one device and back up their device regularly.

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