Hey guys, in this video we're going to talk
about a couple of different email protocols and these are POP3 and IMAP. Now these protocols are
used for retrieving email from an email server. So for example if you're using an email client
such as Microsoft outlook, you would configure outlook with either POP3 or IMAP to retrieve
your email on a computer. And you can also use these protocols on your tablet or smartphone to
retrieve your email. So you can use either one, the choice is yours. But the question is, which
protocol do you want to use? Is one better than the other? So that's what we're going to talk
about. So let's talk about POP3 first. Now POP3 stands for post office protocol 3. Now POP3 is
the simplest of the two protocols because the only thing that POP3 does is download the email
to your device from a mail server. And it only downloads what's in your inbox folder, which is
where your email is, and that's pretty much it. It doesn't download any other folders or their
contents. So it doesn't download your sent items, your drafts, your deleted emails, and
so on. Because it only downloads what's in your inbox and it doesn't do any kind of
synchronization. So for example here we have two computers that are configured to retrieve
the same email account. And as you can tell, the folder structures are different on these two
computers because POP3 does not synchronize the folders. Now by default when you're using POP3,
the email will be deleted on the mail server once it's downloaded to a device. So no copy of the
email is kept on the server. So what happens is, is when a new email comes into the mail server,
if this computer up here it checks the mail server first before this computer down here,
this computer will receive the email but this other computer will not. Because the email
has already been downloaded. So no copy of the email is kept on the server. However most
email clients will have a setting that you can check to leave a copy on the server so that
all of your devices can retrieve the email. Noe let's talk about IMAP. And IMAP stands for internet message access protocol. Now IMAP is also used for retrieving email but IMAP is a little
bit different. IMAP allows you to view your email that's on the server from multiple devices. The
email is kept on the server and it caches local copies of the email on to all of your devices.
And it synchronizes all of your folders and everything that's in them. So it syncs your
inbox, sent items, deleted items, drafts, and any custom folders that you may have created. So
when you view your email on your computer, tablet, or smartphone, your email would be exactly
the same because everything is synchronized. So for example in this demonstration we see
that all the email and folders are exactly the same between these two computers. So if
we delete an email on this computer here, the email will be deleted on the mail server
and then be deleted on this computer also. So if we go to the other computer, and for
example let's go ahead and delete all the emails. And when this happens, all the emails
on the server and the other computer will be deleted also. And if any new emails come in,
the email first goes to the mail server, then as these computers sync with the mail server,
the new email will appear on these computers. So in another example let's go ahead and make
a custom folder. So we'll make a custom folder and then give it a name. And because we're using
IMAP, the folder and all of its contents will be added and synced to the other computer also. So
every computer, tablet, and smartphone that you have, will have the exact same email and folder
structure as the others. So that's how IMAP works. So as a comparison between POP3 and IMAP. On the
left we have POP3, and as you can see, the folder structure is different between these two email
clients because POP3 only downloads the contents of your inbox folder. It doesn't do any email
or folder syncing, so that's why the emails and the folder structure are different. But in
IMAP everything is the same. The email and folder structure are identical because IMAP
syncs everything with all of your devices. Now both POP3 and IMAP are configured in your
email client in the incoming server settings. So for example if you're using Gmail and you wanted
to use POP3, you would type pop.gamil.com in your incoming server settings. Or if you wanted
to use IMAP, you would type imap.gmail.com So the question is, which protocol do you
actually want to use? And that really depends on your situation. Now POP3 is good if you're
only going to retrieve your email from one device. The advantage of using POP3 is that
since the email is downloaded to your device, you can view your downloaded email even if
you don't have an internet connection. So the only time that you need an internet connection
and POP3, is when you're receiving new email or sending email. Another advantage of POP3 is that
it saves storage space on the mail server because the emails are deleted when they are downloaded
to a device. Now a disadvantage of POP3, is that since the emails are removed from the server and
downloaded to your device, you would need a plan to backup your emails in case your device crashes
or is lost. And another disadvantage is that your device has a better chance of being infected with
viruses since the emails are fully downloaded. Now IMAP is good when you're going to retrieve
your email from multiple devices. An advantage of using IMAP is that all the email is stored on
the mail server. So whether you're accessing your email using an email client or webmail, you'll
be able to see all your email including your sent items, drafts, deleted items, and any
custom folders. And all the email and all folders are all synchronized. So every device
that you have will see the exact same thing. Now a disadvantage of IMAP is that you will
not be able to view your emails without an internet connection. And this is because IMAP
only caches local copies of the email on your device and doesn't download them. However some
email clients will give you an option that you can check to have IMAP download the emails
to your device instead of just caching them.
