Post Office Protocol 3 is referred to as POP3. POP3, also known as just "POP," is a straightforward, regulated approach to sending emails. Emails are received by a POP3 mail server, which sorts them into the proper individual files. The messages are transferred to the user's hard drive when the user links to the mail server to receive his mail.

The sort of mail server your email account utilizes must be entered when configuring your email software, such as Outlook (Windows) or Mail (Mac OS X). Usually, either a POP3 or an IMAP server will be used for this. Email communications can be viewed and saved on IMAP mail servers, which are a little more complicated than POP3 servers. IMAP mail servers are frequently used by "webmail" platforms so that users can handle all of their mail online.

Even so, POP3 is the most common mail system because it is straightforward and widely accepted. To learn what options to use when customizing your mail application, you may need to speak with your Provider or the person in charge of your mail account. You must input the proper POP3 server address in your email program's options if your account is on a POP3 mail server. Usually, something along the lines of "mail.servername.com" or "pop.servername.com" is used. Of course, you will also need to enter a legitimate username and password in order to successfully retrieve your mail.