POP or IMAP – What’s the Difference?
When setting up email, you’ll be asked whether to use POP or IMAP. Both are ways of downloading messages from our mail server, but they work very differently. Choosing the right one depends on how you use your email.
IMAP: Best for Multiple Devices
- IMAP keeps your mailbox on the server and syncs changes across all devices.
- Read an email on your phone? It will show as read on your computer too.
- Delete something from your desktop? It’s deleted everywhere.
Because everything stays on the server, IMAP uses your email storage quota. You’ll need to clear out old emails from time to time.
POP: Best for a Single Device
- POP downloads emails to your device and removes them from the server.
- Once downloaded, they only exist on that device.
This means POP is not ideal if you check email on more than one device, as messages won’t be shared between them. It does, however, keep mail server storage low.
Feature |
IMAP |
POP |
|---|---|---|
| Sync | Yes, updates everywhere | No, stays on one device |
| Multiple Devices | Fully supported | Not recommended |
| Storage Use | Higher, mailbox on server | Lower, mailbox on your device |
Which Should You Choose?
Use IMAP if you access your email from multiple devices and want everything in sync.
Use POP if you only check your email on one device and want to store messages locally.
