POP3 to IMAP: Stop Downloading Mail onto One PC
POP3 leaves mail on a single computer. IMAP keeps it on the server. How to migrate users, and when a collector still uses POP on the ISP side.
Two migrations hide in one phrase
A. Users: stop Outlook POP profiles so mail is not trapped on one PC. Stand up IMAP on Hexamail Server, Exchange, or MailEnable; copy existing mail once; switch the profile.
B. ISP still offers only POP: you cannot “turn on IMAP” there. Collect with a POP3 downloader into an IMAP server you run. Users then speak IMAP to you. That is POP3→IMAP as architecture, not as a protocol conversion file.
Do not convert files if you can copy live
IMAP copy tools and the downloader beat PST surgery. If the real project is leaving Gmail fetch, start at the hub. If the real project is a new Windows mail server, start at email-server.
Hexamail
Downloader collects POP/IMAP. Hexamail Server presents IMAP/webmail to humans. Split the jobs.