What is an email client?

An email client, or email program, is the email software on your computer or phone that you use to read, write and organise your email. You probably know some already: Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird are well-known examples. Instead of logging in through a browser tab, you open the app, and you can add several email accounts to it.

How does an email client work?

An email client collects your new messages from your provider's server and hands it the emails you write. That email server does the rest: it sends, receives and stores your email. The client is simply how you reach it.

Clients and servers follow shared rules for this, called protocols. Your client sends the emails you write with SMTP, the protocol that passes them to the server for delivery. To receive email, your client uses IMAP or POP, and if you set up the account by hand, you choose between them. The two keep your email in different places:

• IMAP leaves your email on the server, where your client reads and organises it. Your phone, your laptop and webmail all show the same inbox.
• POP3 downloads your email to one device and removes it from the server. After that, the server no longer has it.

We recommend IMAP for most people, because it keeps your email in step across all your devices. If your laptop breaks or is stolen, your email is still on the server.

Examples of email clients

The best-known email client examples each run on different devices:

• Microsoft Outlook is Microsoft's email and calendar app for your PC, Mac or phone.
• Apple Mail is the Mail app on a Mac, where you send, receive and manage email for all your accounts in one place.
• Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source email client for your computer, now with a mobile app as well. You can keep your accounts apart or read them in one unified inbox.
• The Gmail app is Google's email app for Android, iPhone and iPad.

What is the difference between webmail and an email client?

Webmail runs in your web browser, while an email client is an app you set up on your device. Webmail shows your email straight from your provider's email server, while a client also downloads it to your device.

Think of a flight without Wi-Fi. With webmail, you can't open the attachment you meant to read on the way. If your email client downloaded it before you boarded, it's there when you need it.

You don't have to pick one. With IMAP, your client and webmail show the same mailbox, so you can switch between them whenever you like.

Why use an email client?

If you use one address and are usually online, webmail on its own can be enough. An email client is worth adding if you handle a lot of email, or email from more than one address:

• You get one inbox for all your accounts. Add your work address, your personal address and a shared info@ address to one app, and read them side by side.
• You can work offline: in the new Outlook for Windows, for example, offline access is on by default, so you can read and draft emails on a train or a plane. The client catches up with the server once you're back online.
• Your inbox stays manageable. Apple Mail, for example, sorts new messages into categories for you and lets you block senders.

A client has drawbacks too. You have to set it up on every device you use. If you choose POP3, your email is only on that one device, so you need to back it up yourself. IMAP avoids that risk.

Should you use an email client or webmail?

Our advice: use an email client with IMAP if you manage several addresses or often work without a connection. Stick to webmail if you read email on shared or changing computers. For most people, it's worth using both: a client on your own devices, and webmail when you're away from them.

Before you choose a client, check that it suits how you work:

• It runs on the computers and phones you use. If no single client does, use a different IMAP client on each one.
• It supports IMAP. Without it, your phone, your laptop and webmail can't show the same inbox.
• It has the features you'll really use, such as a unified inbox, a calendar or filters. Only pay for a client if it gives you a feature like that.

How to set up your own email address in an email client

To add an address on your own domain, your client usually needs the server details from your email provider. If you have an email plan with us, any client that supports IMAP can read your professional email address. You add the account once on each device. When your client asks for server names and ports, you'll find them in the server settings in our help guide.

1. Create the email address in your control panel, if you haven't already.
2. Open your email client and add a new account, using your full email address as the username and the password you set for it.
3. Choose IMAP and enter our incoming server details from the help guide.
4. Enter our outgoing server details, with the same username and password as for incoming mail.
5. Send yourself a test email to check that the account can send and receive.

Every mailbox in our email plans comes with webmail and a built-in calendar, and works with the email app you prefer.

Frequently asked questions

Is Gmail an email client?

Not on its own. Gmail is Google's email service, which you can read in your web browser as webmail or in several email clients. Google's Gmail app is one of those clients, and it can also read addresses from other providers, such as Outlook.com, iCloud Mail or Yahoo. You can add a Gmail address to other clients too, like Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird.

Are email clients free?

Yes, many are. Outlook is included for free with Windows, and Thunderbird is free too. The latest version of Outlook comes with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Whichever client you pick, give it an address people recognise. Get a business email address with your business name, and read it in webmail or any email app.