The ins and outs of IMAP

There are many ways to access your email account. Many email services provide you with a POP account. They give you the POP information that you put into the settings of your favorite email program. Checking your POP account downloads your email to the computer you were on when you checked your email. This works pretty well, until you move to another computer. Depending on the email options you selected when you set up your account, you might be unable to find your emails, having to wade through thousands of deleted spam, for example, or they might not be on your new server at all.

But that same email service of yours might also offer you the ability to check your email using an IMAP account. IMAP is like POP but niftier because it synchronizes what you do to the email on your current email program right back to the server you're getting your email from.

With an IMAP account, if you were to delete an email, or move it to a special folder, that action is marked back on the server. If you read an email it is marked as read. This isn't really useful until you move to another computer, set up the email program there with the IMAP account info, and check your email. What happens then is that your email inbox, and folders, and status of each email, will appear just as it is on that other computer. PDA email applications have the ability to use IMAP, as do most email programs on your computer. This makes it really easy to have the same email across the board.

Setting up an IMAP account is similar to setting up a POP account. Look in the help section or ask your provider for IMAP instructions.

Getting jiggy with Gmail.

There's a second option as well, though. While I used IMAP to access my email on a desktop, laptop, or my PDA, I was having to filter through a great deal of spam. You see, on my desktop, I'd trained the spam filter on my email program really well. I only got a handful a day that snuck through. This was not the case on my laptop and PDA, however. I can get thousands of spam emails a day, which makes it very inconvienent to check my email using those devices.

A good friend of mine had sent me a Gmail invite not too long ago. With its generous two gigabyte allowance, I was using it mostly as a backup for occasional files. But after poking around a bit, I spotted that Gmail allows you to access outside email accounts. After toying with the idea, I set Gmail up to download outside email from my email account.

The spam filter took a couple weeks to train, but once it caught on, I could then check email from my PDA, or using the web interface, any computer I happened to be on, whether it was a public computer or my personal computer. Gmail also installs to many kinds of cellphones. Gmail also allows you to download email to any email program you'd like, so I could still use my favorite email program on my desktop computer.

Email wants to be independent

The idea that your information needs to be tied to one particular computer is so old school. When a computer dies, or you find yourself without it, you need to be able to move on quickly without a misstep. Email is one of those mission critical applications you can't afford to lose access to these days. If your email provider filters for spam, check to see if you can use IMAP so that your emails are synchronized to any multiple computers you might use, or so that if your computer fails and you need to re-setup you email, it's as simple as plugging in your IMAP settings. And if you're looking for even more functionality, take a good look at what Gmail offers you in terms of independence.

Many email services allow a web login, which is a great way of getting this same effect. Some people also feel safer with backups, and set up their email programs to automatically forward all their email to some sort of separate web email service, just for peace of mind. Whatever you do, it's important to think of your computer as a window into the world of your data, not the only receptacle.

If you have any similar tips or practices that you think are real easy with email, I'll look forward to seeing them in the comments.

Tobias Buckell is an author, freelancer, and professional blogger.