This section collects how-to guides and explainers for people who don’t live in mail logs every day.

We’re aiming for a middle ground:

  • Clear enough for non-specialists.
  • Accurate enough that admins aren’t wincing.

Getting Started

1. How IMAP Works (for Humans)

A plain-language walkthrough of what happens when you:

  • Add a mailbox to a client.
  • Hit “Send/Receive.”
  • Archive, move, or delete messages.

👉 How IMAP Works (for Humans) (coming soon)

2. IMAP vs POP3 vs Webmail – Which Should I Use?

If you’re still on POP, or your ISP set you up in 2009 and you haven’t touched it since, this guide will help you decide:

  • When POP3 is still OK.
  • When IMAP is clearly better.
  • What’s really happening when you “just use webmail.”

👉 IMAP vs POP3 vs Webmail (detailed guide; coming soon)

Migrating Your Email

3. Moving from POP or ISP Mail to IMAP

A practical checklist for:

  • Exporting or copying mail off a POP-only mailbox.
  • Preserving folder structure and flags (where possible).
  • Avoiding the classic “I lost half my mail” mistakes.

👉 Migrating to IMAP from POP or ISP Mail (coming soon)

4. Moving Between Hosted Providers

Whether you’re leaving an ISP, a control-panel host, or a big cloud provider:

  • What to move (mail, contacts, calendars).
  • How to plan the cutover window.
  • DNS changes and propagation: what actually happens and when.

👉 Migrating Between Hosted Email Providers (coming soon)

Client Configuration

5. General IMAP Settings

A generic, provider-neutral explanation of:

  • Incoming server name, port, and encryption.
  • Outgoing SMTP settings (and why they’re separate).
  • Username formats (full address vs mailbox name).

👉 IMAP Client Settings Explained (coming soon)

6. Per-Client Guides

We’ll also maintain short, focused pages for popular clients, such as:

  • Outlook (Windows / Mac)
  • Apple Mail
  • Thunderbird
  • iOS Mail
  • Android / various OEM mail apps

Each will show the IMAP concepts first, and then the click-path in that specific client.

👉 IMAP Setup in Major Clients (overview; coming soon)

Troubleshooting & Safety

7. “Mail is Missing” – Where Did It Go?

Common causes:

  • POP and IMAP both configured against the same mailbox.
  • Filters or rules in webmail or the client.
  • Misunderstood archive vs delete semantics.

👉 Troubleshooting Missing Mail (coming soon)

8. Basic Email Security for Humans

Covers:

  • Why TLS matters.
  • What phishing typically looks like.
  • Why SPF/DKIM/DMARC exist (without jargon).

👉 Email Security Basics for IMAP Users (coming soon)

As we flesh these out, this page will become the table of contents for everything practical on imap.org.

If you have suggestions for guides that would help your users or customers, feel free to reach out via easyDNS support and reference imap.org Learn section.