Learn how to switch your Xfinity Email account setup from POP to IMAP on Microsoft Outlook.
Notes:
- The instructions contained in this article only apply to users who have already configured their Xfinity Email accounts via POP.
- In addition, this guide assumes that while setting up your email through POP, you chose not to retain emails in the server after downloading them to the email client.
- To learn more about using third-party email clients (e.g., Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) to access your Comcast.net email address, please see Enable/Disable Third-Party Client Access to Comcast.net Email – FAQs.
Important prerequisite
- Select File and then Account Settings.
- Select your Comcast.net email account and then click Change....
- Confirm that the account type is POP and then click More Settings.
- Click the Advanced tab and check the Leave a copy of messages on the server checkbox. Then, click OK.
Switch from POP to IMAP
- Select File and then Add Accounts.
- In the Add Account window, enter your Comcast.net email address and password. Then, click Next.
- By default, the account will be configured via IMAP. Click Finish.
Move emails from the POP to IMAP profile
If the option to delete emails from the server was initially chosen during POP account configuration, emails would have been deleted from the mail server as they were downloaded to the email client, so the newly configured IMAP account will not contain these emails.
To avoid losing these emails during the switch from POP to IMAP, you must select the emails contained in the various folders (inbox, sub folders, trash or sent items) on your POP account, and drag and drop them into the respective folder within your newly configured IMAP account. To be safe, you can also move and store these emails in an external folder.
Delete the POP profile
After your existing emails have been moved from your POP account to their corresponding newly configured IMAP folders (and after ensuring that no emails are missing), you can delete the existing POP-configured profile and its respective folders from your mail client. Then, continue using Xfinity Email through your new IMAP profile.
