Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is a standard protocol for accessing e-mail from your local server. IMAP (the latest version is IMAP4) is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. You (or your e-mail client) can view just the heading and the sender of the letter and then decide whether to download the mail. You can also create and manipulate folders or mailboxes on the server, delete messages, or search for certain parts or an entire note. IMAP requires continual access to the server during the time that you are working with your mail.
A less sophisticated protocol is Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3). With POP3, your mail is saved for you in your mail box on the server. When you read your mail, all of it is immediately downloaded to your computer and no longer maintained on the server.
IMAP can be thought of as a remote file server. POP can be thought of as a "store-and-forward" service.
POP and IMAP deal with the receiving of e-mail from your local server and are not to be confused with Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), a protocol for transferring e-mail between points on the Internet. You send e-mail with SMTP and a mail handler receives it on your recipient's behalf. Then the mail is read using POP or IMAP.
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