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POP3 Email Accounts
POP3 is the oldest Internet message access protocol. It was designed to support offline/local email processing. Email is delivered to a mail server and a remote email client periodically downloads the email from the server to the user's computer. Once the messages are delivered, they are deleted from the mailserver, although users can configure their email client to leave a copy of the email on the mail server.

POP3 email accounts require an email client to send and receive emails. Common email clients include Netscape Messenger, Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, OSX mail, and more.

When you check your email using an email client, it makes a connection to your mailserver and downloads your emails on to your computer. Note that POP3 handles mail access (or mail retrieval) only. Email sending is handled by SMTP.

Advantages of POP3:
  • All emails are downloaded to your computer. You can read your emails without being logged onto the Internet
  • Opening attachments is easy and quick as the file is already downloaded on to you computer
  • It frees up storage space on your mailserver, and there is not a maximum size on your mailbox (except as determined by the size of your hard drive)
Disadvantages of POP3:
  • Opening attachments is easy and quick, sometimes a bit too easy and quick if the attachment has a virus in it
  • All messages are downloaded on to the accessing email client/computer. This means that the user will need to go back to the same computer to access the emails


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