< protocol , messaging > (IMAP) A protocol allowing a client to access and manipulate electronic mail messages on a server . It permits manipulation of remote message folders ( mailboxes ), in a way that is functionally equivalent to local mailboxes.
IMAP includes operations for creating, deleting, and renaming mailboxes; checking for new messages; permanently removing messages; searching; and selective fetching of message attributes, texts, and portions thereof. It does not specify a means of posting mail; this function is handled by a mail transfer protocol such as SMTP .
Current version: 4.
See RFC 2060 , RFC 2061 , and others.
Compare: POP .
(1999-03-14)