How do you move POP3 email from the iPhone back to the server or computer?

No, there isn't.

And the same for any email client with a POP account. Once received messages are removed from the server when downloaded by an email client, I'm not aware of any way to place the received messages back on the server besides forwarding the messages to yourself or your email address. When doing so, all received messages will appear as being sent from you - not from the original sender of the received message.

You're welcome.

Although it is possible to access a POP account with more than one email client, a POP account is really designed to be accessed with a single email client only.

I access a MobileMe account and a business POP account with the iPhone's mail client. Since an IMAP account is designed to be accessed with more than one email client keeping all server stored mailboxes synchronized with the server automatically with each email client used to access the account, accessing an IMAP account with the iPhone's mail client is much more preferable to me. All sent messages are available with each email email client used to access the account. Read a received message with the iPhone's mail client and the message will be marked as read automatically when checking the account with the email client on my computer and vice-versa. I create additional server stored mailboxes to store received and sent messages by category and I can transfer messages from the account's Inbox or Sent mailbox to the designated server stored mailbox with the iPhone's mail client, with all server stored mailboxes kept synchronized with the server automatically with each email client used to access the account.

If messages were removed from the server with the email client used on your computer to access the account - transferred to a mailbox stored locally on your hard drive, you can transfer the messages back to the designated server stored mailbox.

Need to delete and recreate the account with your iPhone's mail client, or need to restore your iPhone with iTunes, all messages that don't remain on the server will be lost with a POP account including all messages sent with the account from the iPhone - which can be stored locally on the iPhone only unless you always Bcc yourself with every sent message.

Delete and recreate an IMAP account with the iPhone's mail client and all server stored mailboxes and the messages within will be available again automatically.

IMAP account access is the way to go with the iPhone IMO.

Go to settings on your iphone and select mail, contacts, calendars. Then select your pop3 email account, then advanced. There is an option to "Delete from server" if you select "never" then when emails are sent to your iphone, they also remain on the server and will then be available for download to your other email clients on the your PC or mac. If you use outlook 2007 and/or the mac email client there are options within these clients to never delete the emails from the server, or more preferably to delete the emails after a few days so that the emails do not build up on the server. Do this on all of your email clients and you will receive emails on all devices even if you delete the message from one or more PC's.

Or, do what I have done and choose "after one day" for removal from the server; it means the mail is usually available to the computer when I get home, but I don't have to remove it manually at intervals, which occasionally gets forgotten so your mailbox fills up.

There is no remove from server after one day option for received/downloaded messages for a POP account with the iPhone's mail client.

The options for removing messages from the server when downloaded for a POP account are as follows:

Never
Seven Days
When removed from Inbox


The "after one day" you are referring to is for deleted messages - automatically removing messages marked for deletion and in the account's Trash mailbox after one day.

The options for automatically removing messages from the account's Trash mailbox are as follows:

Never
After one day
After one week
After one month

Related Question. I check a couple of pop3 accounts on my phone, but sometimes not for days, and then I only need to read and maybe reply to a couple. What happens to old mail if you don't delete it? Does it build up for ever in the phone? If it does, I need a delete all button. I did wack an account a while back and noticed in itunes that my "other" storage on the phone did drop a bit. I would guess this way of using the phone for email is fairly typical, surely Apple does not expect us to be deleting each individual mail, but maybe so, this would be the way other mail clients work, but this is not a typical client.

I prefer to search more before I post and now I am replying to my own post which was a question that probably should have been asked elsewhere in the first place, both of which are kind of weird I guess but I don't like leaving dead ends for the next searcher. After looking at it more today I realize now that iphone doesn't really hang onto those mails, in fact is only downloading header info unless you ask for more, and anyway I bought the 16, so guess I can go ahead and fill it up with old Dead tunes.....