Q: I've been using a POP (Post Office Protocol) account to access my Comcast e-mail; it deletes old mail from the server once I download it to my PC's Outlook mail program. Now I want to switch to an IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) e-mail account, which would keep all my mail on the server so I can access it from both my phone and tablet computer. How can I do that while moving 2.5 gigabytes of old e-mail from Outlook to the mail server?
Kenneth Enstrom, Bloomington
A: Comcast makes it fairly easy to switch your e-mail account from POP to IMAP (see tinyurl.com/y2uhg9j8).
But there is a catch: It is unclear whether all 2.5 gigabytes of your old e-mail will be copied back to the Comcast mail server during the POP to IMAP conversion. If it is not, some of that e-mail might be lost.
To avoid losing any e-mail, back up the contents of Outlook before making the switch from POP to IMAP. By using a process called "exporting," you can back up your e-mail to a PC folder that's not part of Outlook (see tinyurl.com/y6smkcev).
Then follow Comcast's directions for creating a new IMAP account, and for transferring the contents of your inbox, sent mail, etc. to the new account. (This is an attempt by Comcast to copy your PC e-mail back to the mail server. If it works, great. If not, you have the backup.)
Once the transition to IMAP is completed, you can "import" your e-mail back into your PC's Outlook program (see details at the same URL that explained "export.")
Once you have an IMAP e-mail account, all your devices will be able to read, save or delete new e-mail. Whether your old mail will be visible on all devices, or just your PC, remains to be seen.
