In case you use a mailbox with your very own personal domain instead of a third-party one, you’ll be able to make use of an email software application such as Thunderbird, Outlook or Apple Mail to access and administer your email accounts. The advantage of using such applications is that you can also take advantage of other features, such as calendars and address books. There are two email retrieval protocols that you can select from when you configure the application of your choice to access your email account – POP3 and IMAP. With the first protocol, all email messages that are received will be downloaded onto your device – desktop or mobile, unless you opt to leave a copy on the server. With the second protocol, the email messages will be displayed at your end, but they will remain on the server at all times, so you can set up the email account on multiple devices and view the email messages from any location. You will also be able to see old email messages in case there is an issue with your Internet connection, which is an advantage over web-based email services.