IMAP is the abbreviation for "Internet Message Access Protocol." IMAP offers you the possibility to manage your Emails directly on the Email server, that is, if you choose the IMAP protocol to establish your email account in your Email program, the emails you receive will not be downloaded to your computer, you will simply receive a list of your messages and their corresponding subjects. Generally only the E-Mail headers will appear (this option can also be modified in the respective E-Mail programs).
You can also create your own folder on the E-Mail server and move your messages there.
By double clicking on the chosen header, the corresponding E-Mail will be displayed in its entirety.
To move an E-Mail to your PC, simply drag it to the local inbox. When deleting E-Mails, they will appear as "deleted", for example in Outlook, so that they are permanently deleted from the server, choose the option "Edit/Delete messages permanently"
Advantages of using IMAP:
Being able to access E-Mails from any computer
Being able to share a mailbox with other users
IMAP allows you to create folders and subfolders on the server quickly and easily. Folders created with E-Mail programs will actually be found on the server
Tasks such as "search" or "sort" can be carried out with computers that do not have much power, since the action takes place on the server and not on the local PC
In addition, the IMAP server supports IDLE extensions, that is, new E-Mails received will be shown as unread in the inbox and you will receive a notice. It will therefore not be necessary to click on "receive" or set a Polling-Interval.
This function is generally activated in the most common E-Mail programs (for example Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Netscape, etc.).
Observation:
Please note that a consistent Internet connection is required to edit your E-Mails.
Receiving E-Mails using the POP3 protocol is generally carried out through port 995, while port 993 is used for IMAP.
Sending E-Mails through SMTP is carried out through port 465.
E-Mails are deleted from the inbox after approximately 90 days. In some cases, depending on the server, the deletion is carried out a few days late.
E-Mails that have been moved to their own folder or that are not in the inbox are still saved and are not deleted.
