Using POP3 server for iPhone SE 2

[HMW]

I recently got an iPhone SE 2 and want to connect to the pop3 rather than imap server because I like to only keep a few emails on my phone. Sadly, I failed to realise that I was on the imap server when I first got the phone and as a result, I have already permanently lost emails, I thought were being held elsewhere.

I can't find a way to change my phone settings to connect it to the pop server, as it automatically defaults to imap, and just changing the server name in the advanced settings isn't enough. Any help would be welcome.

[用心棒 · Accepted solution]

Sign into webmail and confirm the accidental deleted email are not in the Trash folder.

When setting the account up in iOS enter an incorrect password and after the verification process fails you should see an option to select POP; complete the setup making sure to enter the correct passwords and server names  ― pop3.virginmedia.com and smtp.virginmedia.com

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[HMW]

Thanks 用心棒

Unfortunately the deleted files are gone, I had already checked webmail, it seems that the iphone had also changed the settings on how long to keep deleted items to a week instead of a month 😞

On the bright side, I have set up the account on the pop server so I can delete messages from my phone with impunity from now on 🙂