POP and Webmail Interaction
If you check your OSU Internet e-mail account using both OSU Webmail and a POP-mail program (Eudora, Outlook Express, etc), there are some aspects of how the two services interact that you should know.
When you check your mail using a POP client, a copy of your messages are downloaded from the OSU central e-mail server and saved on your local computer. There is a setting in most POP-mail programs which determines whether the original copy of the e-mail is then removed from the central server, or if it is left on the server. If you have that set to remove messages from the server, you will not be able to access those messages from another location - including Webmail. If you delete a message in your POP-mail client without removing it from the server, you can still access that message from Webmail or another POP-mail client. If you delete a message in Webmail, however, it will no longer be available to download using POP-mail, from any location.
Local folders within your POP-mail program are not available in Webmail. If you've made folders in your POP-mail program to help sort your mail, those same folders (and the messages in them) are not also available in Webmail. Any mail in those folders is also not available, unless you've left a copy of that particular message on the server.
Similarly, folders you've created in Webmail are not available from your POP-mail program. If you make extra folders in Webmail, those folders are not automatically created in your POP-mail client as well. In addition, any mail in folders other than the Inbox is not available using POP-mail. When you check your OSU Internet e-mail account using a POP-mail program, it only accesses messages which are in the default Inbox on the central mail server. Mail in other folders (such as Trash, Sent, Drafts or folders you've created) is not accessed.
One reason to use both POP and Webmail is to allow the storage of older mail in excess of your quota. All messages on Webmail, in any folder, are stored on the central e-mail server and are using some part of your allotted space on that server. While the average size of a single e-mail message is fairly small, over time large numbers of messages can build up and you can be in danger of exceeding your quota. If you're in danger of exceeding your quota, but don't want to permanently delete the messages required to free up space, you can download your mail using a POP-mail program and then delete the messages from the server afterward. Mail saved in your POP-mail program does not count against your quota UNLESS a copy of that message is left on the server (and visible in Webmail).
See also Webmail vs. POP vs. IMAP
Current Record: 1456
Create Date: 09-17-2003
Last Reviewed: 01-09-2008
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