How to use POP3 and IMAP simultaneously?

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Level 1

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How to use POP3 and IMAP simultaneously?

How to use IMAP and POP3 simultaneously?

I have a company email which I access through my "official" desktop computer (PC - Outlook) at my workplace, as well as through my IPHONE and MACBOOK (Mac Mail) when I'm not at work. I have configured said email as POP3 at my workplace (specifying that the messages remain in the server for 3 days before being deleted), because I usually receive tons of large emails/attachments and I cannot afford having all of this stored by my host. In my other devices the email was automatically configured as IMAP so everytime I download something there, I can be sure I'll also receive the same thing when I'm at my desktop.

This setup worked perfectly for a few years.

A few weeks ago, I upgraded to CATALINA on my MACBOOK, and i've noticed that my older emails (older than 3 days) are disappearing, leaving only the more recent ones. I am assuming that my MACBOOK (Mac Mail) is now syncing with the server, "mirroring it", and as messages get deleted there, they are deleted on my MACBOOK.

How could I configure my MACBOOK (IMAP), to simply download the emails from the server, and not mirror it, ie. auto-delete the older emails? Is there such a setting in Mac Mail?

I'm sure it is possible, because it worked fine untill I performed the IOS upgrade.

TIA

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on May 18, 2020 10:37 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,572 points

May 18, 2020 12:52 PM in response to Mdungaze

Depending on the email client you use, it can be done.

We have our iPads set up to use IMAP so the emails remain on the server when viewed. When we go to MS Outlook on our Macs, those are set to POP so we can still retrieve them there. This of course then kills the ability to go back to the iPad for the same emails.

But, there's also an option in Outlook to make POP behave like IMAP.

Then messages I retrieve on my Mac will still be viewable on the iPad until I choose to delete the emails from one or the other.

Since I've never used Apple's Mail app, I don't know if you can do the same thing with it.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

113,046 points

May 18, 2020 10:44 AM in response to Mdungaze

There is no such setting, and I don't know how it worked before. There isn't a half-POP, half-IMAP setup.

You would have to configure the account on your Mac to be POP.

In order to configure it as POP, you have to force it to fail authentication when setting up the account by putting in bad username and password. You can then continue to configure manually.

You have to remove the account before you can set it up as POP, also.

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Answer 3

Mdungaze Author

Level 1

8 points

May 18, 2020 12:42 PM in response to Barney-15E

Barney, thank you for the quick reply.

Most of the text above, I "copy & pasted" from someone with an almost identical experience/issue as mine, but also no clear solution.

I've followed your suggestion.

I've removed the IMAP account and added it exactly as you suggested: wrong pwrd first, then choosing POP + correcting the pwrd.

It should be noted that after the failed login attempt, I got a "Unable to Verify Account Name or Password" error message, and could not advance to the next stage. The workaround was to use "TAB" to jump through the fields, and update the info manually, and it worked.

I also de-selected the option to "Remove copy from server after retrieving... ". Hopefully there will be no more surprises.

Thank you again.

D

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How to use POP3 and IMAP simultaneously?

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