Google is supporting IMAP for its Gmail service from now on, at last! This is a great news for Gmail users as this will no longer as you no longer need to download emails to your computer anymore by using the old POP service.
In case some of you don’t know what’s this all about, Instant Message Access Protocol (IMAP) allows you download messages from Gmail’s servers onto your computer so you can access your mail with a program like Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook. However, as oppose to POP, IMAP creates a constant connection between your Email Client and Gmail.
You might be asking, What’s the difference then? Well, we’ll give you a chart and you’ll judge the pros and cons yourself.
| IMAP | POP | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Where are messages stored? | Server | Local (On your computer) | |
| Is my account storage quota affected? | Yes. You must ensure that all your folders do not exceed the storage quota. | No. All messages get downloaded to your local machine therefore not taking space on the server. | |
| Accessibility of Mails? | Anywhere you can access internet | No. Only on one machine. | |
| Do I always need the Internet to view messages? | Yes | No. Only initial download of new emails | |
| Can I still access my messages if my computer crashes? | Yes | No. All your downloaded messages could be lost. | |
Comparison between IMAP and POP
IMAP is a two-way communication between Gmail and your email client. Whatever actions you do in your email clients will be automatically reflected in your Gmail account instantly. It saves time to synchronize the many emails you have/receive in the mobile device(s) you own. Probably the most important thing about IMAP is that you will not risk losing your datas should something bad happen to your mobile devices.
What are we waiting for? Show us how to enable IMAP now!
- Log in to your Gmail account.
- Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page.
- Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Select Enable IMAP.
- Configure your IMAP client and click Save Changes.
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