Incoming.email

Incoming.email is in development.

For now, visit our sister site Outgoing.email for practical information and tips on optimising outgoing mail flows, deliverability, sender reputation, authentication, and email infrastructure.

Open Outgoing.email

Understand how email reaches the inbox

A practical guide to receiving email, inbound mail flows, and the protocols that move messages into the inbox. Incoming.email is being developed as a reference for teams who want to understand how mail arrives, how servers accept it, and how inbox systems decide what to trust.

IMAP POP3 FILTERING

What Incoming.email will cover

MX records

How domains publish mail exchangers and how sending servers choose where to deliver inbound mail. [read more]

SMTP delivery

What happens during the receiving server handshake, from envelope checks to final acceptance. [read more]

IMAP sync

How clients read, search, and synchronise server-side mailbox state across devices. [read more]

POP3 retrieval

Where POP3 still fits and how it differs from modern IMAP-based mailbox access. [read more]

Filtering and trust

SPF, DKIM, DMARC, reputation, spam scoring, malware checks, and inbox placement signals. [read more]

Email RFCs

Direct links to the standards and reference documents behind inbound mail, mailbox access, DNS, and filtering. [read more]