Post Office Protocol

POP Full Form in English, letter by letter

POP (Post Office Protocol) is an internet standard that lets an email program download messages from a mail server to your device.

POP Full Form in Indian Languages

When an email app asks you to choose between POP and IMAP, POP is the Post Office Protocol, the older method of collecting mail. Its name is shown in six Indian languages below.

POP3: The Post Office Idea in Email

POP is the Post Office Protocol, and the version in use today is POP3. It is an internet standard that lets an email program on your laptop or phone connect to a mail server and download your messages. The post office comparison fits: the server holds your mail, and your device goes to collect it.

POP3 is defined in RFC 1939 (1996), which updated earlier versions, and by default uses TCP port 110. Over an encrypted TLS connection it runs on port 995. Earlier versions, POP1 (1984) and POP2 (1985), are historical and no modern mail system uses them.

How a POP3 Session Runs

A session is a short exchange of text commands. The client logs in with USER and PASS, asks for the mailbox size with STAT, lists messages with LIST, downloads one with RETR and marks it for deletion with DELE. When the client sends QUIT, the messages marked for deletion are removed from the server.

Because mail lands on your device, you can read it offline, and the server stays nearly empty, which mattered when mailboxes were tiny. The catch is that a message now lives on one machine. Delete it there and it is gone, unless the app was set to leave copies on the server for some days.

POP3 or IMAP: Which Should You Pick

IMAP (ports 143, or 993 when encrypted) keeps messages on the server and synchronises folders across every device. That suits anyone who reads mail on a phone and a laptop, which is nearly everybody now, and it is why Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo push IMAP or their own apps.

POP3 still makes sense with a single main computer, tiny server storage, a requirement to archive mail offline, or when you want to move an old mailbox by downloading everything once. Sending mail is a separate matter: outgoing messages use SMTP, usually on ports 587 or 465. POP3 only fetches.

Setting Up POP3 Safely

Without encryption, POP3 sends your password as plain text, so choose the SSL/TLS option and port 995. If the provider offers two-step verification, an older mail client often cannot use your normal password and needs an app password or a modern sign-in method, which is a common stumbling block when configuring old programs.

In Gmail the POP setting is under Settings, then Forwarding and POP/IMAP. When you switch it on you choose whether Gmail keeps, archives or deletes a message once a client has collected it. Check that option before connecting, because deleting mail from the server by mistake cannot always be reversed. Company mailboxes on Indian hosting plans usually show the POP server name and ports in the welcome email.

A few practical points help when a mailbox misbehaves. If the same message downloads twice, the app may not be told to leave copies on the server or may be fetching from two accounts. If you see authentication errors, the password may have changed or the provider may have switched off older sign-in methods. Your ISP or hosting company can confirm the server name and ports, and a test message to yourself shows whether sending and receiving both work.

Other Meanings of POP and PoP

In retail and marketing, POP means point of purchase, the display or sign placed where a customer decides to buy. Counter displays and shelf talkers are called POP material, which is why the acronym appears in FMCG trade talk more often than the email protocol.

In telecom and networking, PoP means point of presence, a location where a network connects to other networks or to its users, such as an internet provider's exchange in a city. In general speech, pop is also pop music. Mail settings, shop displays or network diagrams make the meaning clear.

POP means the Post Office Protocol, the simple fetch-and-delete way of collecting mail. If you read email on more than one device, choose IMAP instead.

POP Full Form: Common Questions