emailes

Email, or electronic mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages over a data network. Emails are sent from an author’s mail user agent to a recipient’s mailbox on a mail server and are retrieved by the recipient using a mail client. Modern email systems support text, rich formatting, and attachments, and can be accessed from servers and services across the Internet.

The development of email grew from early computer networks in the 1960s and 1970s. The widely used email model emerged with the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for sending messages between servers, and with retrieval protocols such as POP3 and IMAP for accessing mail from servers. Email messages follow a standardized format that includes header fields (From, To, Subject, Date) and a body, and often use MIME to carry multimedia content and attachments. The standardization of email formatting and addressing evolved through RFCs, notably RFC 5322 and related documents.

Email is used both in personal and organizational contexts. Users may access mail through webmail interfaces, desktop clients, or mobile apps. Messages can be organized into folders or labels, threaded into conversations, and saved for long-term storage.

Security and privacy concerns with email include spam, phishing, and malware. Security mechanisms include transport-layer security (TLS) for servers in transit, and end-to-end encryption options such as S/MIME or PGP, though end-to-end encryption is not universally deployed. Protocols like DKIM, SPF, and DMARC help verify sender identity and combat spoofing.

See also: email client, MIME, SMTP, IMAP, POP3, S/MIME, PGP, DMARC, DKIM, TLS.