IMAP is an email protocol – a language that clients like Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Mac Mail can use to communicate with an email server to store your email. The main difference between POP3 and IMAP is how it works by keeping mail on the server as opposed to downloading it to your computer.

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. It is a method of accessing electronic mail or bulletin board messages that are kept on a (possibly shared) mail server. In other words, it permits a “client” e-mail program to access remote message stores as if they were local. For example, email stored on an IMAP server can be accessed from a desktop computer at home, a workstation at the office, and a notebook computer while traveling without the need to transfer messages or files back and forth between these computers.

We at HTMLgraphic STRONGLY recommend using IMAP over POP3 unless you have a specific reason not to.

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