IMAP or POP3: which to choose
Choose IMAP. It keeps your email on your email provider's server and in step across your phone, laptop and webmail. POP3 downloads mail to one device and often removes it from the server, so it suits only a single device with its own backups.
On this page
For almost everyone, IMAP is the right choice. It keeps your email on your email provider's server, so your phone, laptop and webmail all show the same messages and folders. POP3 downloads mail to one device and often deletes it from the server, which is how emails seem to "disappear" from your phone.
The difference in one table
| IMAP | POP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your email lives | On your email provider's server | On the device that downloaded it |
| Several devices | All stay in step: read, sent and deleted show everywhere | Each device downloads its own copy, or only one gets the mail |
| Folders | Kept on the server and shared across devices | Only in the app on that device |
| Sent mail | Usually saved on the server for all devices | Saved only on the device you sent from |
| If the device is lost | Email is still on the server | Email may be lost unless the device was backed up |
| Server storage | Uses your mailbox's storage allowance | Uses little, if mail is deleted after download |
When POP3 still makes sense
POP3 can be reasonable if all of these are true:
- you read email on one computer only
- you back that computer up regularly
- your mailbox on the server is small and keeps filling up
Even then, most mail apps can keep a copy on the server for a while. Look for a setting such as "Leave a copy of messages on the server".
Check which one your mail app uses
The wording differs between apps, but the steps are similar.
- Open your mail app's account settings.
- Find the account for your business email address.
- Look at the incoming mail server. It's labeled IMAP or POP (or POP3), or the server name starts with
imap.orpop.. - Check the port. Secure IMAP normally uses port 993, and secure POP3 port 995. Your email provider's instructions have the exact values.
Switch from POP3 to IMAP
Most mail apps can't change an existing account from POP3 to IMAP. Instead, you add the account again.
- Make sure any mail that exists only on this device is backed up, or you're happy to keep it in the old account.
- Get the IMAP settings from your email provider: incoming server, port, and security setting (SSL/TLS).
- Add the email account again in your mail app, choosing IMAP.
- Once the new account shows your mail, remove the old POP3 account. Some apps delete that account's downloaded mail when you remove it, so move anything you need first.
You'll know it worked when
You read a message on your phone and it shows as read on your computer, and a reply you send from one device appears in Sent on the other.
If something goes wrong
- Old emails are missing after switching. POP3 may have removed them from the server. They're still in the old account on the device that downloaded them.
- The app can't connect. Check the server name, port and security setting against your email provider's instructions, and that you're using your full email address as the username if the provider asks for it.
- Mail doesn't arrive at all. That's a delivery problem, not an IMAP or POP3 problem. See Email not arriving or going to spam.
Next steps
- Email DNS records: MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC
- Keep your Oogle account secure
Frequently asked questions
Which one should I pick?
IMAP, unless your email provider tells you otherwise or you read email on one computer only and back it up yourself.
Where do I find the server names and port numbers?
From your email provider. They're listed in its help pages or in its control panel. Oogle can't give you settings for a provider we don't run.
Will switching from POP3 to IMAP bring back old emails?
Only emails that are still on the server. Mail POP3 downloaded and deleted from the server stays on the device it was downloaded to.