If you have ever tried to set up an email account, you would have noticed these terms. What are they? POP and IMAP are two protocols for accessing and viewing emails. Now let us look in detail what POP and IMAP is.
POP
POP stands for Post Office Protocol. POP was created in 1984. It was used for downloading mail from a remote server.POP usually downloads all the mail from the server and deletes them from the server. Any changes made from a device won’t appear on other devices if you are using this protocol. For example, if you marked a message as read, you will find the same as unread on the other device connected to your account. In 1985 POP2 and in 1988 POP3 was released offering more features.
Advantages
- Saves server storage space.
- Messages are always accessible even without the Internet because they are downloaded.
- Internet connection is needed only for sending and receiving mail.
Disadvantages
- Any changes made on a device are to be made again on other devices.
IMAP
IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. The first IMAP was developed by Mark Crispin in 1986. All mails rest on the server. Only a copy of the emails is downloaded. IMAP messages can be downloaded as parts allowing users to preview the mail. IMAP is useful for people using multiple devices. Several revisions were made to IMAP which gave birth to many features such as email encryption.
Advantages
- Mails are stored on the server so that you can access them with any devices.
- Changes made from one device are replicated on all other devices.
- Previewing messages.
- Saves device storage space.
Disadvantages
- There might be size restrictions to the mailbox because email is stored on the server.
