POP3 is the last version of the Post Office Protocol created for the retrieval of email messages by email applications from email servers. This means that POP3 enables you to receive your mail when you connect to the Internet using web-based email service or an email client. POP3 is one of the standard protocols for email retrieval and it’s supported by most email apps and web services. It’s suitable for managing messages offline. POP3 gives you access to the email server that retrieves your emails and saves them for you until you read them. Characteristic for the POP3 email protocol is that emails are deleted from the server after you’ve opened them and stored locally on your computer. POP3 could deliver your emails by establishing an encrypted connection using STLS, TLS or SSL.
POP3 & IMAP
POP3 and IMAP are both widely used and supported protocols for email retrieval. IMAP is the newer and more flexible protocol. It is preferred in many cases. By default, the IMAP leaves the messages on the server until the user deletes them and doesn’t save anything on your computer. However, the protocol allows for offline management of the messages as well. Thus you don’t have to store unnecessary data on your hard disk and you can access your emails from any device via any web browser or email client. This is very suitable for corporative or educational email accounts that must be accessible for lots of people. As a whole IMAP provides more options for the management of your emails, but the perfect solution is to use email services that provide both IMAP and POP3.
How Does It Work?
The POP3 protocol is simple and widely supported email protocol, so you can use it with all major webmail services (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail) and clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, Mail for Mac). That protocol lets you connect with an email POP3 server and get your emails. When the connection is established the messages are downloaded locally, on the hard disk of the device you are currently using to access the server. At the same time, the messages are deleted from the POP3 server and you can access them only offline. Also, POP3 doesn’t save the sent messages in your local Sent email box. However, on most email clients you could set received messages to remain on the server for a longer period. POP3 typically uses the 110 port and when the connection is encrypted – the 995 port.
Free POP3 & IMAP Hosting
When you create a hosting account for your new website you also need an email with your own domain where the visitors of your site can write you, so you can gather feedback and manage their emails. Having email on your site’s domain invokes the trust of your customers and simplifies the management of your website.