Chapter 1 · 1.2
Forwarding or IMAP: which should you choose?
If you want to keep reading your own domain's mail in Gmail or Outlook, there are two ways to do it: you have your mail forwarded, or you add your address to an app using IMAP. They work very differently. Our advice: choose IMAP wherever you can.
The two options side by side
| IMAP in an app | Forwarding | |
|---|---|---|
| Where is your mail stored? | In your mailbox at WebOké. The app displays it. | A copy goes to Gmail or Outlook.com. You decide whether a copy also stays with us. |
| Does everything arrive? | Yes, the app reads your mailbox directly. | Not always. Gmail and Outlook.com often put forwarded mail in spam or reject it. |
| Replying from your own address | Yes, through our outgoing server. | Only if you set up Send mail as in Gmail, and according to Google that will work until January 2027. |
| On multiple devices | The same everywhere, including in webmail. | Only in the account you forward to. |
| Where does it work? | Gmail app on Android, iPhone and iPad, Outlook app, Outlook for Windows and Mac, Thunderbird, Apple Mail. | Anywhere you read that Gmail or Outlook.com account. |
Which one should you choose?
- Do you mainly read your mail on your phone in the Gmail app? Add your address to the app using IMAP. See Adding your email address to the Gmail app.
- Do you read your mail in Gmail on your computer? Gmail on the computer can no longer read your mailbox with us by itself. You can use forwarding (see Forwarding mail to Gmail), but for your own address an email program or webmail works better. See Alternatives: webmail, Thunderbird and an email package.
- Do you use Outlook or Outlook.com? Read Outlook.com and your own domain and The Outlook app and the new Outlook with your own address.
Why IMAP is the better choice
With IMAP, your mail stays in one place: your mailbox at WebOké. Whatever you read, move or delete is reflected everywhere. You send through our outgoing server, so the recipient sees your own address and your mail is signed with your domain's authentication records (SPF and DKIM, see SPF and DKIM when you send via Gmail). WebOké also backs up your package every night, including the mail in your mailbox. You can read more about IMAP and POP3 in IMAP or POP3: what's the difference?.
Tip: Don't use POP3 on one device and IMAP on another at the same time. If the POP3 device downloads the mail from the server, it disappears for all your other devices.