IMAP settings for AOL account

Just like POP, IMAP is an email protocol with which you can download messages and store them on your local computer for offline access. IMAP lets you synchronize the online AOL email account with the one set up in your favourite email program on the local machine.

There are tons of email programs and as long as the client has support for IMAP, you can set up the account and download AOL email with ease. Configuring your email account in the program of choice requires:

• The AOL email address
• The email account password
• AOL IMAP settings: imap.aol.com
• AOL Outgoing SMTP mail server: smtp.aol.com
  Port: 587
  Check the 'Outgoing server requires authentication' option.

Download email with IMAP or POP3?

All free AOL email accounts are IMAP and POP3 enabled and, thus, you can use either of these to download messages. So which one should you employ? Sorry, I cannot answer that - it's your call! But here are a few suggestions anyway.

If you want to keep the local and online account synchronized, use IMAP else go for POP. AOL offers unlimited storage space for its email accounts and POP might be a good idea for those who want to keep a copy on the server of every message they've ever received. Read more on the differences between POP and IMAP.

FYI, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) works in conjunction with IMAP and POP to send emails from your account. All sent messages are stored in the "Sent" folder.