If you have an email address with your own domain and not a third-party one, you will be able to use an email software application such as Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Outlook to check and manage your emails. The benefit of using such applications is that they also offer other features, such as calendars and address books. There are two email protocols that you can select from when you set up 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 to your device – mobile or desktop, unless you choose to save a copy on the email 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 check the messages from any location. You’ll also be able to view old email messages in case there’s an issue with your Internet connection, which is an immense advantage over a web-based service.