You may know POP3 and IMAP concerning to types of e-mail accounts. But what are the differences and does one have a benefit over another? Which one must you use? Do you have a alternative?

POP3 (Post Office Protocol) is the most generally utilized internet mail protocol. It is simple to organize and utilize. For a moment it was the only option you had. There are many POP clients accessible for almost each operating system. Examples contain Outlook and Eudora. With a POP account you download mail to your local PC and stay it there. Many times it obtains deleted off of mail server after being downloaded. One drawback of POP is that after you download it to PC you won't be able to check your mail from a several PC as it will be downloaded onto your own PC. It leans to be slower than IMAP also.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) utilizes a technique where all mailboxes and messages are maintained on server. So you can access your e-mail from any place with an internet connection. It is quicker than POP because mail client reads all message headers without having to download full message. It is also supported in a range of clients like POP. One thing to remember that disk space assigned to your mail on server may not be sufficient to hold all your mail.

POP works better when you are using only a single PC, as you do not have to concern about checking e-mail from many places. And it is quicker also.

IMAP would be better if you want to check your e-mail from many places. To utilize IMAP your ISP/mail provider should present that kind of account.