IMAP vs POP3: the difference and why it matters when migrating
IMAP or POP3 — what is the difference and which should you pick when moving email? A clear explanation without jargon.
POP3: download and (often) delete
POP3 pulls email from the server to a single device and by default deletes it from the server afterwards. Handy in a one-computer era, but risky: if your mail lives only locally, there is no copy on the server to migrate.
IMAP: everything stays on the server
IMAP keeps your folder structure and messages on the server, synced across all your devices. That is exactly why IMAP is ideal for a migration: the complete mailbox sits centrally and can be copied one-to-one to a new provider.
Current: Google is ending POP3 fetching in Gmail
Google itself is showing POP3 the door: the "Check mail from other accounts" feature — which uses POP3 to pull mail from other addresses into Gmail — is going away. New connections have been off since early 2026; existing ones work until January 2027.
Using that feature for an old address? Consider moving that mailbox over completely, once, instead of hunting for a new fetching band-aid. Our article on the end of Gmailify and POP3 fetching lays out all the options.
What this means for your migration
If you currently use POP3, first switch your mail client to IMAP (or check that "leave a copy on the server" is on) before you migrate. Otherwise you only migrate whatever happens to still be on the server.
emailmover works entirely over IMAP on both sides — source and target — so your whole mailbox comes along, folders included.