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Home / Glossary / POP
Glossary · Protocol

POP

Post Office Protocol

In plain language

An older way of reading email that downloads messages to one device and often removes them from the server.

The metaphor

Like collecting your letters from the post office and carrying them home: once you have them, only your house has them.

Going deeper

How it works

  • Mail is pulled to a single computer.
  • The server copy may be deleted afterward.
  • Other devices do not see the messages.
  • If that computer fails, the mail may be gone.

What can go wrong (example scenario)

A small shop used POP on one old computer. When its drive failed, ten years of customer email went with it, because the server copy had been deleted.

In practice
  • An owner's old laptop holds email the server no longer has.
  • A firm moves from POP to IMAP so email reaches the phone too.
  • A new hire cannot see mail the previous holder downloaded.

A question owners ask

Should I still use it?

Rarely. Choose IMAP or a modern account type so mail is kept on the server and backed up.

Related terms
AHAuthentication HeaderARPAddress Resolution ProtocolBGPBorder Gateway ProtocolCCMPCounter Mode/CBC-MAC ProtocolCHAPChallenge Handshake Authentication ProtocolCRCCyclical Redundancy CheckEAPExtensible Authentication ProtocolESPEncapsulated Security Payload

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