imap and pop3

[paulmars]

I have been using gmail with TB both set to imap for several years. this way I get my preferred user interface and the safety of keeping emails on the server and once in a while accessing my emails from another computer. I dont want to change this.

Posting this question to gmail forums gets no helpful response.

In G mail web settings enabling or disabling pop3 is independent of enabling or disabling imap. Why?

I had thought that I had pop3 disabled, but looking at it now I see it says
"Status: POP is enabled for all mail that has arrived since 10/31/08"
"When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy"

and below that it is set to
"Status: IMAP is enabled"

When I log into my gmail account with the g mail web interface, I see that messages that I have already received w/TB are still there even months/years later. This is IMAP and what I want, but in g mail web settings is:
"Status: POP is enabled for all mail that has arrived since 10/31/08"
"When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy"

What's up?

tks,pa

[tanstaafl]

Webmail ("the g mail web interface"), a POP account and a IMAP account are different ways to access the same mailbox, with very different abilities and restrictions. Settings that apply to POP accounts (such as "When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy") don't effect webmail or a IMAP account.

IMAP accounts are much closer to the ability of webmail than they are to POP accounts. The design of the POP protocol was heavily influenced by the need to keep mailbox size low due to disk storage costs. That is why it is so download-centric, and has optional settings to delete the original after a new message has been downloaded. IMAP accounts have a client-server view of the world that allows access to all of the webmail folders, and didn't become very popular until disk space became cheaper.

Perhaps your confusion is that you that don't view webmail, POP accounts and IMAP accounts as being independent entities. Normally the only way "When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy" effects a IMAP account is if you have both a POP account and a IMAP account for the same email address. Even then it would only effect the inbox as the POP3 protocol literally only knows about the existence of the inbox folder on the POP server.

[paulmars]

Webmail ("the g mail web interface"), a POP account and a IMAP account are different ways to access the same mailbox, with very different abilities and restrictions. Settings that apply to POP accounts (such as "When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy") don't effect webmail or a IMAP account.

IMAP accounts are much closer to the ability of webmail than they are to POP accounts. The design of the POP protocol was heavily influenced by the need to keep mailbox size low due to disk storage costs. That is why it is so download-centric, and has optional settings to delete the original after a new message has been downloaded. IMAP accounts have a client-server view of the world that allows access to all of the webmail folders, and didn't become very popular until disk space became cheaper.

I know all that.

Perhaps your confusion is that you that don't view webmail, POP accounts and IMAP accounts as being independent entities.

That is right, I dont.

Normally the only way "When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy" effects a IMAP account is if you have both a POP account and a IMAP account for the same email address.

Considering my gmail account is set as described, that is what it looks like.

Even then it would only effect the inbox as the POP3 protocol literally only knows about the existence of the inbox folder on the POP server.

HUH? Deleting pop3 inbox emails should delete them from server.

I have read about 20 articles and i still dont understand why I can have pop3 enabled and imap enabled. Once I have IMAP enabled, why do I have any pop3 choices? As I understand all those choices would only be relevant to a pop3 account an mine is imap...

[tanstaafl]

HUH? Deleting pop3 inbox emails should delete them from server.

It can. It depends upon the settings. If you check "leave message on server" in tools -> account settings -> gmail -> server settings but don't check the nearby "until I delete them" when you delete a message in the POP inbox Thunderbird only deletes it in the local inbox, not the remote inbox.

If the POP tab in webmail is set to "When messages are accessed with POP delete Gmail's copy" that deletes the message in the remote inbox, regardless of the Thunderbird POP account settings. Most Thunderbird users don't set that.

I was just trying to describe a limitation of the POP3 protocol that it can only access/modify the remote inbox folder.

I have read about 20 articles and i still dont understand why I can have pop3 enabled and imap enabled. Once I have IMAP enabled, why do I have any pop3 choices? As I understand all those choices would only be relevant to a pop3 account an mine is imap..

Why do you think you can enable only one? They are different network protocols, handled by different servers. You might have a PC using a POP account while your smartphone uses a IMAP account for the same email address for example. It's very common to have multiple network protocols that can access the same object. You can use SSH , OpenSSL or telnet protocols to login into a interactive shell on a host for example (if you have the necessary privileges).

[paulmars]

Are you saying that as long as I have IMAP enabled, the pop3 settings while they are got grayed out and while i can change them, they dont mean anything, unless I have another email reading device that is set to pop?

I cant image why i would ever "You might have a PC using a POP account while your smartphone uses a IMAP account for the same email address for example.", but I dont have a very good imagination anyway.

I thought I understood this more then the average person, actually I do. When talking email with most ppl, you say imap or pop3 or 'do you get email on the web or do you have a client/application on your computer', they say, and im quoting here "HUH?"

maybe I just expect too much from gmail help.

[tanstaafl]

Are you saying that as long as I have IMAP enabled, the pop3 settings while they are got grayed out and while i can change them, they dont mean anything, unless I have another email reading device that is set to pop?

Yes.

[paulmars]

ok (Your message contains too few characters.)

[paulmars]

who else knows this? I posted this same question to 4 other forums and no responses.

[tanstaafl]

who else knows this? I posted this same question to 4 other forums and no responses.

You are the first person I've run into that thought POP settings would effect IMAP accounts.

[paulmars]

who else knows this? I posted this same question to 4 other forums and no responses.

You are the first person I've run into that thought POP settings would effect IMAP accounts.

I did not think that.