Considering the times we live in, chances are that a day doesn’t go by without us receiving an email or two. But have you ever wondered how your emails reach your inbox?
One of the protocols responsible for fetching our messages is called IMAP. Although it might seem difficult to understand at first, don’t worry — I’ve got your back.
Today, I’ll explain the IMAP protocol in detail and show you the optimal methods of testing how it works, so you can check it out yourself.
What is IMAP?
IMAP, short for Internet Message Access Protocol, is a protocol that enables email clients to access and retrieve messages from servers over TCP/IP connection.
It was created by Mark Crispin in 1986 as an alternative to Post Office Protocol (POP), which was used to download messages from the email server to the local device. Unlike POP, IMAP works similarly to cloud email, as, instead of locally, it stores your messages, folder structure, etc., on the mail server.
Nowadays, we use the protocol’s fourth version, IMAP4, which introduced some quality-of-life features like mailbox management and message flogging. More precisely, we use the protocol’s first revision, IMAP4rev1, which is more refined than its predecessor and is defined by RFC 3501.
How does IMAP work?
- IMAP defines how servers receive the sent emails through a series of commands
- The recipient’s mail client connects to the server where the email is stored
- The recipient sees the displayed email headers via the client
- IMAP downloads a copy of a particular message that the recipient chooses to open