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Email on Iphone vs. Computer

How do I set up email on iPhone so that when I delete from phone, it does not delete from computer? Supposedly answer is use POP on iphone, but I don't get that option when I try to set up account manually on the iPhone.

thx

iPhone 7, iOS 14

Posted on Jan 13, 2021 8:21 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 13, 2021 8:29 PM

By default, when using a POP3 email account, the first device that accesses the email server gets all of the current messages downloaded to it. When a second device accesses this same account, there will be no messages on the server as they have already be downloaded to the first device.


An IMAP email account leaves the messages on the server so that any device can access messages. However, if you delete a message with one device, it is removed from the server and no additional devices can "see" it.


To attempt to meet your goal, you would have to copy messages from the IMAP server to local email folders on the computer so that deleting any from the server (from the phone) would not affect other devices. Not a very efficient way to use email.


If POP3 is not an available option, it may be because the particular email provider you are using does not support this older standard. For example, Apple's iCloud Mail only supports IMAP.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 13, 2021 8:29 PM in response to WhycanInotdothis

By default, when using a POP3 email account, the first device that accesses the email server gets all of the current messages downloaded to it. When a second device accesses this same account, there will be no messages on the server as they have already be downloaded to the first device.


An IMAP email account leaves the messages on the server so that any device can access messages. However, if you delete a message with one device, it is removed from the server and no additional devices can "see" it.


To attempt to meet your goal, you would have to copy messages from the IMAP server to local email folders on the computer so that deleting any from the server (from the phone) would not affect other devices. Not a very efficient way to use email.


If POP3 is not an available option, it may be because the particular email provider you are using does not support this older standard. For example, Apple's iCloud Mail only supports IMAP.

Jan 13, 2021 8:33 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for that. You may have hit upon my solution ( at least in part). I will look at computer and see if I can get Outlook to download to it locally. I don't need all the emails on my phone as I do most of my work off computer. But after recent crash, I've only been able to do as I described originally. So now I don't think it's email provider as much as it is setting on computer.

Appreciate!

Email on Iphone vs. Computer

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