Questions

If you download your email to several devices (computer, laptop, phone) IMAP is a necessity - all your mailing activity is synchronised and controlled from one central point (the server). once you are on IMAP we can also help you control your spam - effectively and automatically.

Configuring your IMAP will depend on the local program you are using - example of manual configuraton is below -- always use secure connections.

Username: your email address   (example: admin@netcells.net)
Password: your email account password
Incoming Server: mail.YourSiteName   (example: mail.netcells.net)
IMAP Port: 993
Outgoing Server: mail.YourSiteName
SMTP Port: 465   (example: mail.netcells.net)
Authentication IS required
Automatically detect and maintain account setting: YES
Use SSL: YES
Authentication: password
Allow Insecure authentication: NO

If you use cPanel you have automated scripts for connecting, in: Email > Email Accounts > Connect Devices
With cPanel, you can always access and use your email from any computer, via secure connection on port 2096 - https://YourSiteName:2096
To access all your cPanel functions log in on port 2083 https://YourSiteName:2083

If you kept copies of incoming messages on the server those will be found in your IMAP account.
some mail programs, like Outlook, when switching to IMAP, will re-route old Sent messages to be checked on the server.
Otherwise, before you switch to IMAP, be careful to archive and copy your Sent messages, so that you can access them later, search the web for instructions for your particular local mail program, here is an example for: ›Apple systems, and another helpful guide for changing from POP to IMAP on: ›various systems

Apple users: Apple mail programs fetch mail automatically - if they fail to connect, they will try over and over again, ultimately blocking your IP - that is the server's security feature. For that reason email account server and port settings MUST be entered manually on Apple devices, for both incoming and outgoing mail.

All users: make sure your Email Authentication is enabled, especially if you send bulk emails - set it in your cPanel (Email Authentification). more info on ›cPanel site

One painless way to switch from POP3 to IMAP is to create a parallel IMAP account for the same address (then use only IMAP, set POP3 to check for messages at long intervals). this way you can copy old messages from POP to IMAP and delete the POP account when no longer needed.

If you use Apple Mail program helpful guide for setting up that program:
wikihow help