
Instead, you need to create a new account. In Mail, you can’t change an email account from POP to IMAP. In Mail, choose Preferences -> Accounts, click on the name of your POP account, then on Advanced, then uncheck Enable this account.

In most cases, you will just need to change the prefix in the Incoming Mail Server setting from pop to imap. For example, for Gmail, you will need to know the new Incoming Mail Server ( ), but your outgoing mail server won’t change. Once this is done, you can change the settings for your email account.Įither your hosting company, your IT department, or your email provider will provide the settings you need to switch your account over to IMAP. Do the same for your Sent Mail folder, and any Drafts you may have. When you’ve done this, move all the messages currently in your Inbox to this folder. So, in Mail, choose Mailbox -> New Mailbox, and, with the location as On My Mac, create a new mailbox.
#GMAIL SETTINGS FOR OUTLOOK 2016 FOR MAC MAC#
The problem is, this means that any folders that are on your Mac may get overwritten, or deleted, if you don’t save their messages before making the switch. To avoid any potential disasters, save all the messages you have on your Mac to a different mailbox before you convert to IMAP.IMAP stores some or all of your email on the mail server. Protect the message you’ve already downloaded (You have to enable IMAP on the Gmail website.)Ģ.
#GMAIL SETTINGS FOR OUTLOOK 2016 FOR MAC HOW TO#
If you use Gmail, this help page will tell you how to change your Gmail account from POP to IMAP. Find out what settings you will need to access your email as an IMAP account, and whether anything needs to be changed on the server side. (It’s very rare that this is not available.) If you get email through your business or school, check with the IT department. If you manage your email account yourself, check on your hosting company’s dashboard to make sure you can use IMAP. However, making this conversion requires that you take precautions so you don’t lose any messages. Most hosting companies and providers offer both options. If you’ve been using a POP account, but have grown frustrated with inaccessible messages, you can usually convert your account to IMAP. With IMAP, they’ll be on all your devices. For example, with a POP account, if you check email on your iPhone, the messages downloaded there will only be there when you get back to your Mac, you won’t see them in your inbox. Or, you can have an IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) account that leaves some or all of your messages up on the mail server so you can access them from any device. You can have a POP (Post Office Protocol) account that downloads all your messages to your Mac, iPhone or iPad.
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Most email providers let you choose between two ways to get your messages.
