IMAP/POP - the difference, and issues I'm having with them

[EricG1793]

I was wondering what the difference between IMAP and POP access is. I correctly configured Mozilla Thunderbird to access my Gmail account via POP access. I was able to do this because in Thunderbird there's a specific setting if you're setting it up for a Gmail account. I did that. I realized that this was POP access. All the POP access was doing was sending new messages to Thunderbird, and deleting them forever from Gmail, or leaving them within Gmail.

What I want to do is to try Imap. I assume this is what most people would want; if I delete a message in Thunderbird, it's deleted from my Gmail account, period. Thunderbird is simply controlling Gmail, kind of like a Remote Desktop Connection in Windows. When Gmail receives a message, that doesn't matter; Thunderbird access it through Gmail.

Now I am pretty sure this is the difference between Imap and POP. If it's not, please tell me what they are.

OK, so I want to have Thunderbird use IMAP to access my Gmail account. I set it up as Gmail said it to (with the correct incoming/outcoming servers, etc.) but when I open Thunderbird it says "Connecting to imap.gmail.com".... And then it says it can't connect. So I'm stuck. Is it Thunderbird not being able to access Gmail, or is it something up with Gmail?

I know this isn't really explained clearly enough, but I'm sure most of you can understand....

[ryanbutler]

The main difference between POP & IMAP is that with the former, your emails are downloaded to your computer, meaning you have a local copy. With IMAP, the emails stay on the server, though technically, with IMAP, they are still downloaded to your computer depending on your email client.

Usually IMAP is preferred because you check it with web based or local email client. Setting Gmail to forward all email to an IMAP account is a piece of cake. Log in, click "Settings" and then select Forwarding POP/IMAP. Type in the email address you want all Gmail email sent to and you're done.

[EricG1793]

Well what I want to do is to be able to control everything that goes on with my Gmail account, with Thunderbird. Simply view my Email data from a different interface. So that way, if I delete something that I view in Thunderbird that was sent to my Gmail, it'll be deleted from my Gmail account. And when I send messages from Thunderbird, it uses my Gmail address. I don't want a different address, I just want to try a different interface for a change.

Like I said before, it's like a Remote Desktop session. You're using a different computer (or application) to access files, settings, and everything (Emails), and anything you did during that remote session would have a permanent affect on the computer.

[Kravvitz]

Have you read through the Gmail Help IMAP Access section (http://mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=12760)? I recommend that you read all of the entries under the FAQ subsection. IMAP does have some limitations when used with Gmail that you'll want to be aware of.

[EricG1793]

OK, thank you, I found an article on the issue. It's all set now. :)

[Sisupoika]

I was wondering what the difference between IMAP and POP access is.

Now I am pretty sure this is the difference between Imap and POP. If it's not, please tell me what they are.

I think you are pretty much correct

OK, so I want to have Thunderbird use IMAP to access my Gmail account. I set it up as Gmail said it to (with the correct incoming/outcoming servers, etc.) but when I open Thunderbird it says "Connecting to imap.gmail.com".... And then it says it can't connect. So I'm stuck. Is it Thunderbird not being able to access Gmail, or is it something up with Gmail?

Have you set the ports correctly? You need to enable SSL for the incoming server and TLS for the outgoing server.

I correctly configured Mozilla Thunderbird to access my Gmail account via POP access.

If you have previously downloaded all emails locally on your pc's mail client, you can now reimport all of them in your Gmail account via IMAP.
One great feature of IMAP, in fact, is that you can also upload messages and folders. And this adds to the list of differences too.

Setting Gmail to forward all email to an IMAP account is a piece of cake.

Forwarding all emails to an IMAP account is no longer needed, for Gmail now supports IMAP natively.

[EricG1793]

Everything's sorted out now; I found the procedure on the Gmail FAQ. I had actually looked at it, but... I didn't read it all the way. :o So it's working exactl as I want it now. :cool:

Thanks, everyone, for your help.:)