If you have an email address with your own domain instead of a third-party one, you’ll be able to use an email software app such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail to access and manage your emails. The benefit of using such apps is that you can also take advantage of other features, such as calendars and address books. There are two different email retrieval protocols that you can choose from when you configure the app of your choice to access your mailbox – POP3 and IMAP. With the first protocol, all email messages that are received will be downloaded onto your device – desktop or mobile, unless you opt to store a copy on the email server. With the second protocol, the 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 numerous devices and view the email messages from any place. You will also be able to examine old email messages in case there’s a predicament with your Internet connectivity, which is an advantage over a web-based email service.