What is the difference between POP3 and IMAP?

When setting up a new email account, users are given the choice of using POP3 or IMAP. Which one you use depends on how you'd like to use your email account.

POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol. With a POP3 account, users have standard download and delete ability. That means that your email software will download email messages from your server and, typically, delete them from the server.

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. With an IMAP account, users will log into their email account and read and respond to messages on the server.

Stadia Studio hosting services provide email accounts which can be used with either POP3 or IMAP protocols. We recommend that most users employ the POP3 setting when using a program like Outlook, and set the account to delete messages from the server after 7 days. You can then use IMAP on a smart phone or iPad to log into the server real-time and see messages up to 7 days old.

If you use only IMAP for checking email, then you must make sure that you regularly delete messages from your server to prevent your mailbox from becoming full.