POP (Post Office Protocol) is an email retrieval protocol that downloads emails from a mail server to a single device and then removes them from the server.
This means emails are stored locally and won’t sync across multiple devices.
How POP works
- Your email client (like Outlook or Thunderbird) connects to the mail server and retrieves new emails.
- Once downloaded, emails are deleted from the server, making them available only on that device.
- POP is commonly replaced by IMAP, which allows syncing across multiple devices.
| Pros | Cons |
| Emails are accessible offline | Emails don’t sync across devices |
| Saves server space | Risk of losing emails if your device crashes |
| Faster access to emails | Harder to manage email across multiple devices |
For modern email users, IMAP is usually the better choice unless you need offline storage with limited server space.