Switching a .Mac account from POP to IMAP
.Mac users who have their email set up as a POP account but would like to change it to the newer (and better) IMAP format, can find help in a thread on the Apple Discussion Boards.
A user in that situation asked for guidance 
and received two useful replies which set out different methods for making the switch.
Allan Sampson’s procedure (the second reply) seems simplest.
Following the steps set out there will make sure no emails are lost or accidently deleted by Mail.app’s unpleasant POP account ambush.
Tags: ambush, Apple Mail, Apple Mail Tips, dotmac, imap, mac, mail.app, POP, switchingRelated posts
October 5th, 2006 at 1:42 am
Excellent advice I wish I would have had before attempting the switch a while back. Luckily, I was trying it on a fairly new machine and could just copy over my backup again.
October 7th, 2006 at 1:01 am
It’s probably undocumented, but you can have it both ways too.
On my desktop, I run both Eudora and Mail with Eudora configued as a POP mailer and Mail set up with dot mac as IMAP. Additionally, the laptop is using Mail as a POP mailer for the same account. Both POP mail accounts leave the mail on the server for a week before deletion. Both POP mailers are essentially set up for manual deletes from each too, so I can pick and choose the mail I’d like to leave on for the other. I use the IMAP primarily for checking out html mail that displays poorly in Eudora or because a lot of applications still open Mail when I’m sending a link or clicking on one. At this stage, I have no need for longterm storage of mail on the server, but if I did, I’m sure that I could find solutions for that too.
Anyway, I discovered that my dotmac account could be accessed by both POP and IMAP mailers purely by accident and just wondered if anyone else realized this.
cheers,
Mick