Switching from POP3 to IMAP without loosing emails

If you have been using the POP3 protocol to collect email for a long time and would like to move to IMAP to support multiple machines or to ensure that your messages are preserved on the server, here are the steps you should take (NOTE: more on the relative advantages and disadvantages of each protocol here):

1. Create a new IMAP account on the same computer with the same email client that you currently use with POP3. Don’t delete your current POP3 account.

2. Ensure the new IMAP account can send and receive emails.

3. Disable but do not delete the POP3 account. In most email clients you can do this by selecting “Do not include this account when sending and receiving.” If there is no such option, just enter an incorrect password in the POP3 account to prevent it from collecting any more emails while the IMAP account is still functional.

4. Drag and drop emails from specific folders (Inbox, Sent, etc.) in your POP3 account to related folders (Inbox, SENT-ITEMS, etc.) in your IMAP account.

5. After the copy operation is complete, ensure that all emails actually copied and are complete. You can check this by closing your email and logging into your PSMail account via your browser at https://mail.psmail.net/dashboard/.

6. Go ahead and delete the POP3 account on your email client.

You’re finished! If you have any questions about this process or need further guidance, please contact our helpdesk here and we’ll be happy to help!

How can I keep my sent items organized across devices? (IMAP)

If you use IMAP and multiple devices, keeping your Sent folder synchronized across laptops, phones, tablets, and webmail (browser) can be challenging. This tip can help.

When using PSMail webmail through a browser, your sent items folder is called “SENT-ITEMS” (casE sEnsitivE), however each email client from Mac OS X Mail to Windows Outlook use several conventions for saving outgoing message in a “Sent” folder. These tips will help you so you can have a universal view of these folder.  Note: This does NOT apply to you if you use POP3 to download message and not save them on the server.

Continue reading How can I keep my sent items organized across devices? (IMAP)

Why have my emails disappeared?

If you use POP3 protocol and collect email using email client software (i.e. Apple’s Mail, Thunderbird, Outlook, etc.), then your email client automatically deletes these emails from the server once it collects them; they are no longer kept on the server. If you have other synced devices (such as a smartphone or tablet), it is possible you will no longer see these messages, nor will you see them when you login to your PSMailbox. In some cases, an archive manager or a storage settings could also remove emails from the server. Continue reading Why have my emails disappeared?