If you have an email account with your own personal domain and not a 3rd-party one, you will be able to use an email software application such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail to access and administer your mailboxes. The benefit of using such apps is that they also offer other features, such as address books and calendars. There are two different email retrieval protocols that you can select from when you configure the application of your preference to access your mailbox – POP3 and IMAP. With the first protocol, all messages that are received will be downloaded onto your device – mobile or desktop, unless you opt to keep a copy on the server. With the second protocol, the email messages will be displayed locally at your end, but they will remain on the server at all times, so you can set up the account on multiple devices and see the messages from any place. You will also be able to check old emails if there’s an issue with your Internet connection, which is a huge advantage over a web-based email service.