What is IMAP?

The term used for Internet Message Access Protocol sometimes listed as Internet Mail Access Protocol. It is a mail protocol that provides management of received messages on a remote server. The user can review headers, create or delete folders/mailboxes and messages, and search contents remotely without downloading.

IMAP is gradually replacing POP as the main protocol used by email clients in communicating with email servers, because POP3 requires users to download messages to their hard drive before reading them.