--- title: "Change POP3 account to IMAP, or IMAP to POP3" description: "There might come a time when you've setup your mail client to check email on the server via POP3 or IMAP and you decide you want to switch to the other protocol. Unfortunately, you can't simply flip..." url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/change-pop3-account-to-imap-or-imap-to-pop3/ date: 2013-11-13 modified: 2022-01-12 author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor" categories: ["Email"] type: post lang: en --- # Change POP3 account to IMAP, or IMAP to POP3 There might come a time when you’ve setup your mail client to check email on the server via **POP3** or **IMAP** and you decide you want to switch to the other protocol. Unfortunately, you can’t simply flip a switch to do this, but you can re-create your email account in your mail client to use the protocol of your choice. - [Difference Between POP3 vs IMAP](#pop3-vs-imap) - [Switch From IMAP to POP3](#imap-to-pop3) - [Switch From POP3 to IMAP](#pop3-to-imap) ## Difference between POP3 vs IMAP When you need to check your email on the server, there are 2 different protocols **POP3** or **IMAP** available to use. Depending on how you utilize your email, one way might be more preferable to the other for you. ### POP3 vs IMAP ![pop3-server](/support/images/stories/generic/pop3-server.png) With **POP3** (**Post Office Protocol**) this would be the same as simply going into the post office, removing everything in your post office box and taking it home with you. You retain the physical copies of all of your mail that has been sent to you, and the post office (server) doesn’t have to deal with them further. ![imap-server](/support/images/stories/generic/imap-server.png) With **IMAP** (**Internet Mail Access Protocol**) instead of simply taking everything out of your box and home with you every time. You instead grab a copy of each message, and the original stays in the post office box (server). This is convenient if you have multiple devices such as a desktop, laptop, smartphone, and tablet all trying to check mail from the same account. ## Switch from IMAP to POP3 Switching an **IMAP** account to **POP3** would allow you to alleviate the server from managing your emails, and instead they would be stored locally on your computer. You would just need to create a new **POP3** account in your mail client, then drag any messages off the server from the **IMAP** account you wish to download. If you’re having [IMAP resource usage problems](/support/email/imap-resource-usage/) switching an **IMAP** account to **POP3** is a great solution! 1. Here you can see in **Thunderbird** that I have a **user@example.com** account currently setup to use an **IMAP Mail Server**.![Thunderbird IMAP Account](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-imap-account-showing.png) 2. In **Thunderbird** navigate to **Tools > Account Settings**.![Thunderbird Tools Account Settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-tools-account-settings.png) 3. Click on **Account Actions** and then **Add Mail Account…**![Thunderbird Add Mail Account](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-account-actions-add-mail-account.png) 4. Fill in your [email account settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/how-to-find-email-settings/), then click **Continue**.![Thunderbird Account Settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-fill-account-settings-click-continue.png) 5. Now select **POP3 (keep mail on your computer)** and click **Done**.![Thunderbird Select POP3](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-select-pop3-click-done.png) 6. Now back on the **Account Settings** window, click on the newly created **user@example.com** account, and update the **Account Name** to append **(POP3)** on the end, so we know which account is which easily, then click **OK**.![Thunderbird POP3 Account](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-label-pop3-account-click-ok.png) 7. At this point you can now see that our original **IMAP** account has 5 messages in it, and these are stored on the server.![Thunderbird IMAP and POP3](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-imap-and-pop3-account-showing.png)If you attempt to [login to webmail](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/login-to-webmail/) at this point, you’ll see these same messages stored there.![Webmail Messages From POP](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/webmail-new-messages-moving-from-pop.png) 8. You can select one of the messages from your **IMAP** account, then hit **Ctrl-A** to select all messages, then drag them into your **POP3** account to move these messages off the server.![Move Emails in Thunderbird](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/select-imap-messages-drag-to-pop.gif)Now if you [login to webmail](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/login-to-webmail/), you’ll see all those messages have been removed from the server.![Webmail No Messages on Server](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/webmail-no-messages-on-server.png) 9. Now you’ll want to remove your IMAP account from Thunderbird to ensure that it doesn’t keep trying to make a duplicate connection to the server, since your POP3 account is already going to connect and retrieve your email. **Right-click** on the **IMAP** account and click on **Settings…**![IMAP Account Settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-right-click-imap-account-click-settings.png) 10. On the **Account Settings** window, click on **Account Actions** and then **Remove Account**.![Remove IMAP Account in Thunderbird](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-account-actions-remove-imap-account.png) 11. You’ll get a confirmation window pop-up asking if you’re sure you want to remove the account, just click **OK**.![Remove Account From Thunderbird](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-remove-account-click-ok.png) ## Switch from POP3 to IMAP Switching a **POP3** account to **IMAP** allows you to keep messages on the server, and to synchronize them to multiple **IMAP** clients. You just need to create a new **IMAP** account in your mail client, then drag any messages from your old **POP3** account into the **IMAP** account if you’d like to retain them and remove the **POP3** account. While **IMAP** might be more convenient for how you check email, because all of your messages get left on the server instead of your local mail client it could potentially lead to [IMAP resource usage problems](/support/email/imap-resource-usage/). 1. Here you can see in **Thunderbird** that I have a **user@example.com** account currently setup to use a **POP Mail Server** or **POP3**.![POP3 Account in Thunderbird](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-pop3-account-showing.png) 2. In **Thunderbird** navigate to **Tools > Account Settings**.![Thunderbird Tools Account Settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-tools-account-settings.png) 3. Click on **Account Actions** and then **Add Mail Account…**![Thunderbird Add Mail Account](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-account-actions-add-mail-account.png) 4. Fill in your [email account settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/how-to-find-email-settings/), then click **Continue**.![Thunderbird Account Settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-fill-account-settings-click-continue.png) 5. Now select **IMAP (remote folders)** and click **Done**.![Select IMAP in Thunderbird](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-select-imap-click-done.png) 6. Now back on the **Account Settings** window, click on the newly created **user@example.com** account, and update the **Account Name** to append **(IMAP)** on the end, so we know which account is which easily, then click **OK**.![Thunderbird IMAP Account ](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-label-imap-account-click-ok.png) 7. At this point you can now see that our original **POP3** account has 5 messages in it, and these are stored on the local computer itself.![Thunderbird POP3 and IMAP Accounts Showing](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-pop3-and-imap-account-showing.png)If you attempt to [login to webmail](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/login-to-webmail/) at this point, you’ll see there are no messages stored on the server for this account. This is because they are all stored locally in your mail client.![Webmail No Messages on Server](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/webmail-no-messages-on-server.png) 8. You can select one of the messages from your **POP3** account, then hit **Ctrl-A** to select all messages, then drag them into your **IMAP** account to move these messages to the server.![Moving Emails From POP to IMAP](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/select-pop-messages-drag-to-imap.gif)Now if you [login to webmail](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/login-to-webmail/), you’ll see all those messages you just moved on the server-side. They can now be syncronized to any **IMAP** client such as your phone without the messages being removed from the server.![Webmail Messages From POP](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/webmail-new-messages-moving-from-pop.png) 9. Next you’ll want to remove your **POP3** account from **Thunderbird** otherwise the messages in your **IMAP** account will keep being removed from the server and pulled back into the **POP3** account. **Right-click** on the **POP3** account and click on **Settings…**![POP Account Settings](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-right-click-pop-account-click-settings.png) 10. On the **Account Settings** window, click on **Account Actions** and then **Remove Account**. You’ll get a confirmation window pop-up asking if you’re sure you want to remove the account, just click **OK**.![Remove Account From Thunderbird](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thunderbird-remove-account-click-ok.png) You should now have the knowledge and know-how to switch your mail client from using either **POP3** or **IMAP** as your preferred email retrieving protocol. **Reliable Shared Hosting for Growing Businesses** Get the performance your business website demands with NVMe SSD storage, industry-standard cPanel management, and direct access to hosting experts whenever you need assistance. ![check mark](https://design.inmotionhosting.com/assets/icons/standard/check-blue.svg)Free Website Migration     ![check mark](https://design.inmotionhosting.com/assets/icons/standard/check-blue.svg)24/7 Human Support     ![check mark](https://design.inmotionhosting.com/assets/icons/standard/check-blue.svg)100% Money-Back Guarantee [Shared Hosting](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/shared-hosting?mktgp=t&irgwc=1&affiliates=5001860&utm_campaign=Jumbotron&utm_source=supportcenter&utm_medium=cta&utm_term=shared-cta2)