When setting up your email in an application like Outlook or Apple Mail you will often be asked whether to setup your email as a POP or IMAP account.
POP is the older email protocol designed for checking your mail only from a single computer or device. When using POP, mail is downloaded from the server to your computer and then deleted from the server immediately after. The emails you have downloaded will only exist on the specific computer you have downloaded them to when using POP. While POP uses minimal storage space on the server, it should be used only if you plan to check your mail from a single computer or device.
IMAP is the newer email protocol designed for checking your mail across multiple computers and devices. When using IMAP, all mail is stored on the server and your computers and devices simply sync with the server so all of your emails are always available no matter what device you are using. Since all email is stored on the server, IMAP uses significantly more storage space on the server than POP, but is the best protocol to use if you would like to check your email across multiple devices.
We recommend using IMAP in most cases as it has many advantages over POP. Additionally, you should never use a mix of POP and IMAP when setting up your email across multiple devices. All devices must be configured to use IMAP if you are checking your mail from multiple computers and devices.
