What’s the difference between POP3 and IMAP?

When configuring your email account, it is important to understand the difference between POP3 and IMAP. IMAP is the more recent system used for email transfer.

IMAP supports message synchronisation between multiple systems – so you’ll find that all of your mail folders appear synchronised on all your devices.

POP3 is more of a legacy system which is only really useful if you would rather your mail folders weren’t synchronised.

Most users will find IMAP more beneficial – so if you aren’t sure, we would recommend using that. However, we give users the choice – so if you’d rather use POP3, you can do so.