Technology
How does email work?
Email works by sending a message from your device to your provider's mail server, which relays it across the internet to the recipient's mail server, where it waits until they download and read it. Shared protocols let any provider talk to any other.
See it in motion.
Watch a 2-minute animated lesson that shows exactly how email works.
Step by step
- 1Your message goes to your provider's outgoing mail server (SMTP).
- 2That server finds the recipient's mail server and delivers it.
- 3The recipient's device fetches it (via IMAP or POP).
- 4Addresses (you@domain) route mail like a postal system.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens when you send an email?
- It travels to your mail server, which relays it across the internet to the recipient's server, where it's stored until read.
- What is SMTP?
- Simple Mail Transfer Protocol — the standard for sending and relaying email between servers.
- Why can different email providers talk to each other?
- They all follow shared open protocols (SMTP/IMAP), so Gmail, Outlook, and others interoperate.