POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) and IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol) are both email protocols used by email servers and clients (e.g. Outlook, Gmail, Thunderbird, etc.) to send and receive email messages.

What is the difference between POP3 and IMAP?

First of all: what are POP3 and IMAP? Both are email protocols used to access email inboxes. In other words, they only handle incoming emails.

With IMAP, emails are stored on the email servers, regardless of whether you have read them or not. Whichever device you use to access your email inbox (computer, smartphone, tablet), you will have access to all your emails.
When using POP, emails are downloaded from the email servers to your device. Unlike the IMAP protocol, POP does not copy emails to the email servers. This means that you will not be able to read your emails on your smartphone once you have accessed your inbox from your computer. Why is this? Because when you first open an email, it is retrieved, saved to your computer and deleted from the email servers. If you switch devices, you will only be able to read new emails.

Advantages and disadvantages

Protocol	Benefits	Disadvantages
POP3	- Easy email download – Emails are stored on your device, and you can manage the local files as you wish. - You can work offline, as the system stores your emails on your computer. - Emails do not take up hosting.	- Emails are not synchronised on other devices or via the webmail service. - Local files cannot be accessed from other devices or via the webmail service. - Managing the transfer of emails can be complicated if you get a new computer or email client
IMAP	- Emails can be accessed from any device - Special folders (Sent, Bin, Drafts, etc.) are synchronised across all devices. - You can switch to a new email client without running the risk of losing all your emails.	- If you have folders containing a large number of emails, you may experience slower response times with some email clients. - Emails take up hosting on the server

In summary

POP3, if:

• You are the only person with access to the mailbox, and you use only one device (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.) to access it.
• You don’t want your emails to take up storage on your hosting account

IMAP, if:

• You would like to access your email inbox from multiple devices, or you would like to share it with other users.
• You would like to synchronise your files across multiple devices.