If I remove my account then add it back will I lose my email history? If it is kept then how do I remove the account?

As long as you keep regular backups you shouldn’t lose any email. The two types of mail accounts most of us use are POP and IMAP.

POP accounts store mail only on the device you create the account on. If you use the same account details on a second device, as a POP account, you won’t see the emails that are on the first device. Mail won’t be synchronised or consistent across all the devices you create the POP account on. Removing the account details won’t remove the mail as it’s still on the device. Re-adding the account details should ‘pick up’ the mail again.

Its a good idea to keep regular backups, just in case your device suffers total hardware failure or a hard drive failure.

IMAP accounts store all mail on the email provider’s serve(s). Removing your account details won’t remove the mail. Re-adding the account details will cause all the mail to ‘flow’ back again just as it was before you removed the account.

Unlike POP, IMAP offers the flexibility of not having to rely on a single device. Because mail is not ‘locked’ to a single device, it can be accessed on multiple devices eg: Mac, PC, smartphone or tablet. For example you can send mail on one device and receive the reply on another. Mail is consistent and synchronised on all the devices you create the account on. Furthermore the device need not be your own. As long as you have access to any device (eg: in an Internet Cafe or Library etc) Mac, PC smartphone or tablet and know your account details, you can view your mail anytime and anywhere.

Whatever you decide to do don’t forget to keep regular backups.

Good luck