IMAP is the preferred email account protocol because it lets you access your mailbox from multiple devices.

If you have set up an email account in Outlook using the POP3 protocol instead, then all of your emails and folders will be stored locally on that computer, not on the server as part of your mailbox.

To change this, you need to set up your email account again in Outlook using the IMAP protocol, and then usually you would also want to copy all of your (locally stored) emails and email folders to that new IMAP account so they are available to other devices.

Here is a general step-by-step guide of how you can do this. We recommend engaging a technician to assist, because each situation can be different, and there is a risk of inadvertently deleting your locally-stored emails if you remove a POP3 account before you have copied the emails.

• Identify which computer is your "main" computer that would contain all of the emails and email folders you want to keep
  • Later, you'll copy emails from this computer into the new IMAP account
• Remove or disable any POP3 email accounts from any other devices that are also connected to this mailbox
  • Because POP3 deletes messages from the server after checking mail, if another device is checking this email account, it will continue deleting new messages while you are setting up IMAP on another computer
  • If another devices is already configured using IMAP, you don't need to disable it
  • Be aware that removing a POP3 account in Outlook should not delete the underlying data file that stores emails, but if that other devices contains the only copy of any emails you wish to keep, it would be safer to export that data file before removing the POP3 account. See below for instructions on exporting a data file. To be safe, export the data file before removing the POP3 account.
• On the main computer, you will now be removing the POP3 account and adding the new IMAP account, and copying emails from the old data file. There are a couple of ways you could approach this. We recommend the first option as the safest, although it will take the longest and will need more disk space.
  • Option 1 (recommended): Using the same Outlook profile and exporting the data file
    • If you have enough disk space, we recommend exporting the data file associated with the POP3 account and saving it to your desktop, so that you know exactly which file contains the emails you want to copy to the new account. To do this, go to File > Open & Export > Import & Export > Export To A File > Outlook Data File (.pst), choose the top-level folder and ensure Include Subfolders is selected, then click Browse and choose your desktop and give the file a sensible name, and click Finish. Don't use a password.
    • Next, remove the old POP3 account by going to File > Account Settings > Account Settings, click the POP3 account in question, then click Remove
    • Then, click "New" and add this email account again using IMAP (see https://billing.precedence.com.au/billing/knowledgebase/29/How-to-set-up-an-email-account-in-Microsoft-Outlook-2010.html for the best practice settings)
    • Close the Account Settings window
    • You should now see both the new IMAP account on the left (with nothing in it) and the old data file with your current emails and email folders. If you don't see your old emails, then you can open the data file you exported by going File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File, navigating to your desktop, and selecting the file you exported earlier.
    • Now, copy folders from your old data file to the new IMAP account (you can hold CTRL while dragging, or right-click a folder and choose Copy), and for top-level folders like Inbox and Sent, you can go into those folders and press CTRL+A to select all messages, then CTRL+drag them into the equivalent folder in the new account.
    • When done, you can close the old data file by right-clicking on its top level folder and choosing "Close".
  • Option 2: Create a new Outlook profile
    • If you don't have the disk space or don't want to wait for your data file to export, you could create a new profile instead, then open up the old data file from the new profile to copy emails.
    • To create a new profile, see: https://billing.precedence.com.au/billing/knowledgebase/93/Create-a-new-profile-for-Microsoft-Outlook.html
    • Set up the IMAP account in this new profile (see https://billing.precedence.com.au/billing/knowledgebase/29/How-to-set-up-an-email-account-in-Microsoft-Outlook-2010.html for the best practice settings)
    • Next, open the data file that your old profile used for the POP3 email account by going to File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File, and select the correct data file (this may be difficult if you have multiple accounts and the data files have generic names — you may need some trial and error!)
    • Once you have the old data file opened, copy the emails to the new IMAP account as with Option 1 above, then close the old data file.
    • If you had other email accounts set up under the old profile, you will need to set them up again under the new profile.
  • Option 3: Skip the backup
    • Outlook should not typically remove a data file when you delete a POP3 account, but there are certain circumstances where it may, so we always recommend one of the above options to ensure you don't inadvertently lose your old email data. But, if you have taken precautions (e.g. a separate backup), you can choose to remain in the same Outlook profile, and just delete the old POP3 email account, add the new IMAP account, and (assuming the old data file is still open — if not, open it via File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File) proceed to copy emails over as per the above, and close the old data file when finished.
• Set up email accounts on other devices
  • For each other device that needs to access this email account, set up the account again using IMAP as the account type (see https://billing.precedence.com.au/billing/knowledgebase/29/How-to-set-up-an-email-account-in-Microsoft-Outlook-2010.html for the best practice settings)
  • If any other computer running Outlook contained emails that were only downloaded to that device and which you want to keep (e.g. ones in the Sent folder), then you can open the Outlook Data File associated with the old POP3 account on those computers using the same process as described above, and copy them into the new IMAP account.