diff --git a/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Abstraction/ReceivedEmailContext.cs b/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Abstraction/ReceivedEmailContext.cs
index 022b3de..83be50f 100644
--- a/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Abstraction/ReceivedEmailContext.cs
+++ b/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Abstraction/ReceivedEmailContext.cs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ namespace DigitalData.MessagingService.Abstraction;
 /// <summary>
 /// Represents an email message received via IMAP.
 /// </summary>
-public sealed class ReceivedEmailContext
+public sealed record ReceivedEmailContext
 {
     /// <summary>
     /// Unique identifier of the message on the IMAP server (UID).
diff --git a/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Application/Common/Options/EmailAccountsOptions.cs b/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Application/Common/Options/EmailAccountsOptions.cs
index 763f430..97e451e 100644
--- a/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Application/Common/Options/EmailAccountsOptions.cs
+++ b/src/core/DigitalData.MessagingService.Application/Common/Options/EmailAccountsOptions.cs
@@ -14,4 +14,10 @@ public class EmailAccountsOptions
     /// The list of configured email accounts.
     /// </summary>
     public required IEnumerable<EmailAccountDto> Accounts { get; init; } = [];
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// How often the IMAP sync worker polls for new emails, in seconds.
+    /// Defaults to 300 seconds (5 minutes).
+    /// </summary>
+    public int SyncIntervalSeconds { get; init; } = 300;
 }
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/DependencyInjection.cs b/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/DependencyInjection.cs
index f60b874..5c18aad 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/DependencyInjection.cs
+++ b/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/DependencyInjection.cs
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ public static class DependencyInjection
 
         // Register Background Workers
         services.AddHostedService<AsyncInitWorker>();
+        services.AddHostedService<EmailSyncWorker>();
+
+        services.AddMemoryCache();
 
         return services;
     }
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/Background/EmailSyncWorker.cs b/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/Background/EmailSyncWorker.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1e2430
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/Background/EmailSyncWorker.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+using DigitalData.MessagingService.Application.Common.Interfaces;
+using DigitalData.MessagingService.Application.Common.Models.MailSearch;
+using DigitalData.MessagingService.Application.Common.Options;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
+
+namespace DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure.Services.Background;
+
+public class EmailSyncWorker(IImapEmailService imapService, IOptions<EmailAccountsOptions> Options) : BackgroundService
+{
+    private DateFilter? _dateFilter = null;
+
+    protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
+    {
+        if (imapService is not LimilabsImapEmailService limapService)
+        {
+            await Task.Delay(Timeout.Infinite, stoppingToken).ConfigureAwait(ConfigureAwaitOptions.SuppressThrowing);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        var interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(Options.Value.SyncIntervalSeconds);
+
+        while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            foreach (var account in Options.Value.Accounts)
+                if (account.ImapServer is not null)
+                {
+                    // init or update last date filter
+                    _dateFilter = _dateFilter is null
+                        ? new DateFilter
+                        {
+                            After = null,
+                            Before = DateTime.UtcNow
+                        }
+                        : new DateFilter
+                        {
+                            After = _dateFilter.Before,
+                            Before = DateTime.UtcNow
+                        };
+
+                    await limapService.FetchEmailsAsync(account, new MailSearchFilter { Date = _dateFilter }, stoppingToken);
+                }
+
+            await Task.Delay(interval, stoppingToken).ConfigureAwait(ConfigureAwaitOptions.SuppressThrowing);
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/LimilabsImapEmailService.cs b/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/LimilabsImapEmailService.cs
index 2a8ec86..4244b99 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/LimilabsImapEmailService.cs
+++ b/src/infrastructure/DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure/Services/LimilabsImapEmailService.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using DigitalData.MessagingService.Domain.Exceptions;
 using DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure.Services.Extensions;
 using Limilabs.Client.IMAP;
 using Limilabs.Mail;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using System.Text;
 
@@ -15,9 +16,12 @@ namespace DigitalData.MessagingService.Infrastructure.Services;
 /// Opens a fresh connection per call — stateless and thread-safe.
 /// </summary>
 public class LimilabsImapEmailService(
-    IEncryptionService encryptionService,
-    ILogger<LimilabsImapEmailService> logger) : IImapEmailService
+    IEncryptionService EncryptionService,
+    ILogger<LimilabsImapEmailService> Logger,
+    IMemoryCache Cache) : IImapEmailService
 {
+    private static readonly string CacheKeyPrefix = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
+
     static LimilabsImapEmailService()
     {
         Encoding.RegisterProvider(CodePagesEncodingProvider.Instance);
@@ -52,7 +56,7 @@ public class LimilabsImapEmailService(
                 }
                 catch (Exception ex)
                 {
-                    logger.LogWarning(ex,
+                    Logger.LogWarning(ex,
                         "Failed to fetch IMAP message UID={Uid} from folder {Folder}. Skipping.",
                         uid, filter.Folder);
                 }
@@ -132,7 +136,7 @@ public class LimilabsImapEmailService(
         catch (Exception ex) when (ex is not OperationCanceledException)
             {
             await imap.CloseSafelyAsync();
-            logger.LogWarning(ex, "Failed to fetch IMAP message UID={Uid} from folder {Folder}.", uid, folder);
+            Logger.LogWarning(ex, "Failed to fetch IMAP message UID={Uid} from folder {Folder}.", uid, folder);
             return null;
             }
         }
@@ -226,56 +230,60 @@ public class LimilabsImapEmailService(
         return uids;
     }
 
-    private static async Task<ReceivedEmailContext?> FetchEmailByUidAsync(
+    private async Task<ReceivedEmailContext?> FetchEmailByUidAsync(
         Imap imap,
         long uid,
         bool withAttachments = false,
         CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {
-        var eml = await imap.GetMessageByUIDAsync(uid, cancellationToken);
-        var mail = new MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(eml);
-
-        var attachments = new List<EmailAttachmentContext>();
-
-        if (withAttachments)
-        {
-            foreach (var att in mail.Attachments)
+        var email = await Cache.GetOrCreateAsync(
+            CacheKeyPrefix + uid,
+            async entry =>
             {
-                attachments.Add(new EmailAttachmentContext
-                {
-                    FileName = att.FileName ?? "attachment",
-                    Content = att.Data,
-                    ContentType = att.ContentType?.ToString() ?? "application/octet-stream",
-                    IsInline = false,
-                    ContentId = att.ContentId
-                });
-            }
+                var eml = await imap.GetMessageByUIDAsync(uid, cancellationToken);
+                var mail = new MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(eml);
 
-            foreach (var vis in mail.Visuals)
-            {
-                attachments.Add(new EmailAttachmentContext
-                {
-                    FileName = vis.FileName ?? "inline",
-                    Content = vis.Data,
-                    ContentType = vis.ContentType?.ToString() ?? "application/octet-stream",
-                    IsInline = true,
-                    ContentId = vis.ContentId
-                });
-            }
-        }
+                var attachments = new List<EmailAttachmentContext>();
 
-        return new ReceivedEmailContext
-        {
-            Uid = uid,
-            From = mail.From.FirstOrDefault()?.Address ?? string.Empty,
-            To = [.. mail.To.SelectMany(m => m.GetMailboxes()).Select(mb => mb.Address)],
-            Cc = [.. mail.Cc.SelectMany(m => m.GetMailboxes()).Select(mb => mb.Address)],
-            Subject = mail.Subject ?? string.Empty,
-            TextBody = mail.Text ?? string.Empty,
-            HtmlBody = mail.Html ?? string.Empty,
-            Date = mail.Date ?? DateTime.MinValue,
-            Attachments = attachments,
-        };
+                foreach (var att in mail.Attachments)
+                {
+                    attachments.Add(new EmailAttachmentContext
+                    {
+                        FileName = att.FileName ?? "attachment",
+                        Content = att.Data,
+                        ContentType = att.ContentType?.ToString() ?? "application/octet-stream",
+                        IsInline = false,
+                        ContentId = att.ContentId
+                    });
+                }
+
+                foreach (var vis in mail.Visuals)
+                {
+                    attachments.Add(new EmailAttachmentContext
+                    {
+                        FileName = vis.FileName ?? "inline",
+                        Content = vis.Data,
+                        ContentType = vis.ContentType?.ToString() ?? "application/octet-stream",
+                        IsInline = true,
+                        ContentId = vis.ContentId
+                    });
+                }
+
+                return new ReceivedEmailContext
+                {
+                    Uid = uid,
+                    From = mail.From.FirstOrDefault()?.Address ?? string.Empty,
+                    To = [.. mail.To.SelectMany(m => m.GetMailboxes()).Select(mb => mb.Address)],
+                    Cc = [.. mail.Cc.SelectMany(m => m.GetMailboxes()).Select(mb => mb.Address)],
+                    Subject = mail.Subject ?? string.Empty,
+                    TextBody = mail.Text ?? string.Empty,
+                    HtmlBody = mail.Html ?? string.Empty,
+                    Date = mail.Date ?? DateTime.MinValue,
+                    Attachments = attachments,
+                };
+            });
+
+        return withAttachments || email is null ? email : email with { Attachments = [] };
     }
 
     private async Task ConnectAndAuthenticateAsync(Imap imap, EmailAccountDto account)
@@ -286,7 +294,7 @@ public class LimilabsImapEmailService(
             await imap.ConnectAsync(account.ImapServer!, account.ImapPort);
 
         var password = account.PasswordEncrypted
-            ? encryptionService.Decrypt(account.Password)
+            ? EncryptionService.Decrypt(account.Password)
             : account.Password;
 
         await imap.LoginAsync(account.Username, password);