Working of POP3
- Initially, POP3 needs to establish a connection between the POP client and the POP server.
- Once a secure connection is established several commands are exchanged between them to perform the task.
- Once a connection is established client requests available email messages.
- The Server sends the available messages along with their size and unique identifier number.
- Once the client receives the message, it makes a request to the server for downloading the messages. The user marks such messages and sends them to the server.
- Upon receiving from the client-server sends the messages selected by the client and accordingly marks them as read or unread.
- The client if want sends a request for deleting the messages.
- Once the tasks are completed the client sends a close connection request to the server
- The server then sends an acknowledgment to the client and closes the connection.
What is POP3 (Post Office Protocol Version 3)?
Today email is the most widely used platform for personal and professional business communication. Email protocol is defined as a set of rules for the secure transmission of emails over the Internet. SMTP, IMAP, POP, and POP3 are some of the email protocols. Each type of protocol used has a specific mechanism. The below article covers in detail the POP3 protocol.