Dovecot POP3 mail vs IMAP. October 7, 2019 / October 7, 2019 by Philip Newman | Leave a Comment POP3 and IMAP are two different protocols (methods) used to access email. POP3 POP3 is short for Post Office Protocol. POP3 downloads email from a server to a single computer, then deletes it from the server. Because your messages get downloaded to a single computer or device and then deleted from the server, it can appear […] Read more »