Download Email to Your Device via POP3 on UGMail (Port 995)

POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) lets you download email messages from a UGMail mailbox directly to your local machine or application. Unlike IMAP, POP3 does not keep your client and server in continuous sync — it retrieves messages and, by default, removes them from the server. This makes POP3 a good fit for offline processing, local archival pipelines, and scenarios where you want a single application to own the messages rather than multiple clients sharing a live view.

Connection settings

Configure your POP3 client with the following details:

Setting	Value
Server	`mail.ugmail.co`
Port	`995`
Security	SSL/TLS
Username	Your mailbox email address
Password	Your mailbox password

Authentication

Use your mailbox’s full email address as the username (e.g. alice@example.com) and the password you set via the secrets field in the Management API as the password.

POP3 vs. IMAP — which should you use?

Both protocols give you access to incoming messages, but they serve different purposes. Use the table below to choose the right one for your workflow.

	POP3	IMAP
Messages stored on server	Temporarily (deleted after download by default)	Permanently, until you delete them
Multi-device / multi-client access	Not recommended	Ideal
Offline access after download	Yes	Depends on client caching
Folder sync	No	Yes
Best for	Single-destination ingestion, archival pipelines	Interactive use, multiple clients

Choose POP3 when a single process or application should consume messages as a stream and you don’t need server-side folder management. Choose IMAP when you need to access the same mailbox from multiple clients or keep messages organized in server-side folders.

Most POP3 clients offer an option to leave messages on the server after download. Enable this setting if you want to use POP3 alongside another client without deleting messages prematurely.

Code example

Use Python’s built-in poplib module to connect, list messages, and retrieve them one by one.

Python (poplib)

import poplib

pop = poplib.POP3_SSL('mail.ugmail.co', 995)
pop.user('alice@example.com')
pop.pass_('SecurePassword123!')

num_messages = len(pop.list()[1])
for i in range(num_messages):
    _, lines, _ = pop.retr(i + 1)
    print(b'\n'.join(lines).decode())

pop.quit()

pop.list() returns a summary of all messages in the mailbox. pop.retr(n) downloads the full RFC 822 message at index n (1-based). Call pop.dele(n) before pop.quit() if you want to delete a specific message from the server after processing it.

Troubleshooting

POP3 deletes messages from the server after download unless you explicitly configure your client to retain them. If messages disappear from other clients after a POP3 session, check whether your POP3 client has “delete on server after retrieval” enabled and disable it if needed.

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
`Connection refused` on port 995	Firewall blocking outbound port 995	Open outbound port 995, or check with your network administrator
`Authentication failed`	Incorrect username or password	Confirm the username is the full email address and the password matches the `secrets` field
Messages disappear from other clients	POP3 client deleting messages on download	Enable “leave messages on server” in your POP3 client settings
Only new messages downloaded	Client tracking last-seen message ID	Reset the client’s “last downloaded” pointer or connect with a fresh client instance

Get Started

Core Concepts

Protocols

Guides

Security

Download Email to Your Device via POP3 on UGMail (Port 995)

Connection settings

Authentication

POP3 vs. IMAP — which should you use?

Code example

Troubleshooting

​Connection settings

​Authentication

​POP3 vs. IMAP — which should you use?

​Code example

​Troubleshooting

Connection settings

Authentication

POP3 vs. IMAP — which should you use?

Code example

Troubleshooting