IMAP

Also called POP3, mailbox, dovecot, reading mail

How a reader gets mail from their own server: it stays on the server, in folders, seen alike from every device.

IMAP (TCP 143, or 993 inside TLS) logs in, selects a folder and fetches messages by number; each command carries a tag its reply repeats. POP3 (110) instead downloads the mail and usually deletes it from the server. Sending is never IMAP's job: that is SMTP.

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