More about IMAP
The Differences between POP and IMAPPOP
A POP client goes out to the server and requests any new messages to be downloaded to the computer. You may choose to leave a copy of messages on the server for a specific amount of days or until you delete them manually from the server or not leave a copy on the server at all. These configurations are set in the email client on the advanced tab of the email account settings.
Common issues that arise when pop set up is being used:
In order to receive emails using multiple email clients such as Miscrosoft® Outlook and/or a Smartphone it is required to leave a copy of messages on the server.
Microsoft® Outlook products have a known issue of producing duplicate emails when the option to leave a copy of messages on the server is selected and the fix is to remove the account in the email account settings and recreate it in order for the emails to stop duplicating. If there are messages in the inbox on the server they will all be pulled down one time into the email client when the account is recreated.
IMAP
An IMAP client synchronizes the e-mail on your computer with the contents of your account on the e-mail server.
IMAP copies messages from the server instead of deleting them; when you use IMAP, an e-mail message is only removed from the e-mail server when you choose to delete it. Instead of moving messages from the server to your computer, IMAP synchronizes your computer with the e-mail server.
If you were to check your e-mail from three different computers via IMAP, all three of those computers, and the e-mail server, would contain all of your e-mail. If you chose to delete a message from computer A, it would also be removed from computer B, computer C, and the e-mail server.
Common questions when using IMAP:
Question:
Why are there lines through my emails when I move an email to a folder or delete it?
Answer:
When using IMAP deleting or moving an email to another folder puts in queue to be deleted or moved. Therefore it places a line through the email so you know that something has been done with that particular email. Typically this requires you to purge or expunge these emails in order to completely delete them. This is similar to emptying the recycling bin. Consult your software's help documentation for further assistance.
