I have a bad message in my POP3 mail box , how can I remove it/read POP using TELNET?

John Savill

December 21, 1999

1 Min Read
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A. A. It is possible to connect to a POP3 mailbox using Telnet so you should connect via telnet and delete the problem message.

  1. Telnet to the pop3 mail server on port 110
    C:> telnet 110
    e.g. telnet pop.savilltech.com 110 (this does not exist so don't bother!)
    Once you connet you will get a +OK prompt

  2. Tell the pop3 server your username (the name you usually logon as)
    user john

  3. Now tell the server your password
    pass password

  4. You will now be logged in and to see how many messages you have enter the word STAT which will tell you the number and size of the messages.

  5. To get a list of each message type LIST.

  6. To view the contents of a message use
    retr
    or to view just the header type
    top 0

  7. Once you find the problem just delete it using the DELE comamdn
    dele

  8. Finally to exit just type QUIT

This is obviously useful in a number of scerios and you could use it just to read you mail if you did not have access to a mail client.

Below is an example of the above in action.

Click here to view image

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