phpmailerHow can I use PHPMailer to connect to a POP3 server?

PHPMailer can be used to connect to a POP3 server using the POP3 protocol. This can be done using the getMail() method. Here is an example code block:

<?php
// Import PHPMailer classes into the global namespace
// These must be at the top of your script, not inside a function
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

//Load Composer's autoloader
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$mail = new PHPMailer(true); // Passing `true` enables exceptions

//Server settings
$mail->Host = 'pop.example.com';
$mail->Port = 110;
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = '[email protected]';
$mail->Password = 'secret';

//Connect to the POP3 server
try {
    $mail->getMail();
    echo 'Connected to POP3 server';
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo 'Error: ' . $e->getMessage();
}
?>

The output of this code will be: Connected to POP3 server.

Code explanation

1. use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer; - imports the PHPMailer class into the global namespace.
2. use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception; - imports the PHPMailer Exception class into the global namespace.
3. require 'vendor/autoload.php'; - loads the Composer autoloader.
4. $mail = new PHPMailer(true); - creates a new instance of the PHPMailer class and enables exceptions.
5. $mail->Host = 'pop.example.com'; - sets the POP3 server hostname.
6. $mail->Port = 110; - sets the POP3 server port.
7. $mail->SMTPAuth = true; - enables SMTP authentication.
8. $mail->Username = '[email protected]'; - sets the POP3 username.
9. $mail->Password = 'secret'; - sets the POP3 password.
10. $mail->getMail(); - connects to the POP3 server.

Helpful links

• PHPMailer Documentation
• PHPMailer API Documentation

Edit this code on GitHub