What Is an Email Client? GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Email, Messaging, & Video Calls > Email 165 165 people found this article helpful

What Is an Email Client?

By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 19, 2019 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail In short, an email client is a computer program used to read and send electronic messages. An email client isn't the same as an email server, however; the latter is the hardware that transports and stores mail centrally for an email provider's many users. An email client, by contrast, is what a single user like you interacts with. Typically, the client downloads messages from the server for local use (or for use within a browser) and uploads messages to the server for delivery to its recipients.

What Can I Do With an Email Client

The email client lets you read, organize, and reply to messages as well as send new emails. To organize email, email clients typically offer folders, labels, or both. An integrated search engine lets you find messages by details such as senders, subjects, times of receipt, and content. In addition to email text, email clients also handle attachments, so you can send and receive computer files (such as images, documents or spreadsheets) via email.

How Does an Email Client Communicate With Email Servers

Email clients can use a number of protocols to send and receive emails via email servers. The messages are either stored locally on your computer (typically when POP, or Post Office Protocol) is used to download mail from the server), or emails and folders are synchronized with the server (usually when the IMAP and Exchange protocols are employed). With IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and Exchange, email clients accessing the same account see the same messages and folders, and all actions automatically synchronize. To send an email, email clients use SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) almost exclusively. (With IMAP accounts, the sent message is usually copied to the "Sent" folder, and mail clients can access it.) Other email protocols exist, too. Some email services offer APIs (application programming interfaces) for email clients to access mail on their servers. These protocols may offer additional features such as delayed sending or the temporary setting aside of emails. Historically, X.400 was an important alternative email protocol in use primarily during the 1990s. It's sophistication made it suitable for governmental and business use but harder to implement than SMTP/POP email.

Are Web Browsers Email Clients

With web-based applications that access email on a server, browsers turn into email clients. If you access Gmail in Mozilla Firefox, for instance, the Gmail page in Mozilla Firefox acts as your email client; it lets you read, send, and organize messages. The protocol used to access the email, in this case, is HTTP.

Can Automated Software Be an Email Client

In one technical sense, any software program that accesses email on a server using POP, IMAP, or a similar protocol is an email client. So, any software that automatically handles incoming email can be called an email client (even when nobody ever gets to see the messages), especially in relation to the email server.

Common Email Clients

Popular email clients include Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, macOS Mail, IncrediMail, Mailbox and iOS Mail. The most popular web-based email client is Gmail; others include Yahoo! Mail and Outlook.com. Historically important email clients have included Eudora, Pine, Lotus (and IBM) Notes, nmh, and Outlook Express. FAQ What information is required to set up an email client for a POP3 account? You need to know your account provider's POP server settings, which you can find from the help documentation about POP. For example, to add Gmail as a POP account to Outlook, enable POP access in Gmail from Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > Enable POP for all mail. Then, add the account in Outlook > select POP from the Advanced Setup options > and enter Gmail's POP settings to begin syncing mail. What's the difference between an email client and webmail? An email client is a computer program tied to one computer, while webmail is accessible through multiple browsers. In some cases, providers offer web versions of their email clients. For example, Outlook is available in both a desktop version and a web version with Outlook.com. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Use AOL Mail Through an Email Client The 5 Best Secure Email Services for 2022 What Is Email aka Electronic Mail? How to Email a Google Doc How to Purge Deleted Outlook Email The Top Free POP and IMAP Email Services macOS Mail: How to Keep Emails on the Server Here Are the IMAP Settings You Need to Set Up Gmail How to Enable IMAP in Zoho Mail Outlook.com SMTP Settings Necessary to Send Email How to Delete an Email Account on an iPhone Here Are the SMTP Settings You Need to Set up Mail.com What Are Gmail's SMTP Settings? What Are the AOL Mail IMAP Settings? How to Access Your AIM Mail Account via POP or IMAP How to Get Outlook Mail or Hotmail in Windows Live Mail Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies