Hi all,

I'm on Ubuntu and have just realized two things:

1/ When I delete a gmail message directly from a browser, it also deletes in Thunderbird (I've therefore lost lots of data!)
2/ Hotmail messages that are in special folders do not appear (and are not saved) in Thunderbird.

I would like to conserve all messages in Thunderbird, that's the only reason why I use Thunderbird! In other words, if I delete some messages directly from a browser (gmail), I would like Thunderbird to conserve all of the deleted messages nevertheless. Is this possible? I've googled it, but have had no luck.

I would also like to conserve hotmail messages which are in special (server side, not Thunderbird side) folders in the same way (and then delete them from the server, but conserve them in my Thunderbird client). Is this possible? Hotmail only transfers Inbox messages, not any other folders or folder messages, or at least not user created folders. I'd like to retrieve all folders and all messages.

Any takers?

Thanks in advance,

rm

That should work as both services support pop3, I reckon.

Have a google for both
thunderbird gmail pop3
and
thunderbird hotmail pop3



Cheers,
Tink

Tinkster,

I'm trying to decode your message.

Is what you mean that pop3 allows you to conserve messages on Thunderbird when you delete them from the server via a Web browser? And that when you use pop3, you're other hotmail folders will appear in Thunderbird whereas if you don't only your Inbox folder will appear? Does pop3 do this automatically? Or is there a setting that has to be changed somthing that has to be ticked or clicked on? If there is a setting or option that needs to be changed when using pop3 for this, is it in Thunderbird or server side? If so, where exactly?

I've googled it all with your suggested keywords and still haven't found any solution or anything that resembles a solution to my specific questions (see initial post).

I have POP and IMAP activated in my gmail account. I see no specific option for POP3.

Are you sure pop3 will provide a solution to the questions in my initial post? If so, I don't understand how.

rm

pop3 allows you to actually download messages from the server,
with an option of keeping them on there, too, after download.

A deletion from the server (if the mail has been fetched using
pop) shouldn't affect local storage. What these services use
by default is IMAP, which means you get a glimpse at what's on
the server w/o a local copy. And culling mail on the server will
thus make it go away for good. POP is what you want.

Check the specs for both out on Wikipedia (or some other resource).


Cheers,
Tink

What I want to do is conserve all of my messages on the server and on my email client. However, when my email box gets almost full, I'm forced to delete messages from the server. When I do that, I don't want them to disappear in Thunderbird: I WANT TO CONSERVE ABSOLUTELY ALL MESSAGES IN THUNDERBIRD. I do not want to delete messages from the server, but sometimes I have to because my email box gets too full. I would like to be able to check my email and reread old emails from anywhere in the world.

So my question remains, how does one do that?

Are you suggesting that disabling IMAP will do the trick?

And the hotmail question still holds.

Does anybody else have a specific answer to my questions?

Thanks in advance,

rm

I suggest you do what I told you above: read up on IMAP vs POP
if you don't want to take my word for it. I don't have time to
repeat the same stuff over and over till it sinks in.

For example: I connect to some of my mail accounts in Thunderbird using pop3 and that allows me to download email from that account to the local hard drive. That's how pop email has worked for decades.

Please read carefully!!:

• I am already able to get my emails to my hard drive from all email accounts using Thunderbird, this has never been a problem!
• When I delete an email from my gmail account directly from a browser, it also deletes in Thunderbird (it arrives, is on my hard drive, I delete it using Firefox, it disappears from my hard drive). I would like it to stay in Thunderbird even if it is deleted from the server, but would like to conserve most of my messages on the server too.
• Hotmail Inbox messages are on my hard drive. Other hotmail messages don't seem to be able to get to Thunderbird.

If anybody has any answers to these specific questions, I'd really appreciate it.

Try POP3

You don't have to start yelling just because you refuse to
read up on standards ... using IMAP your files may make it
to your HDD in a process of caching, but TB will SYNCHRONISE
those cached files with the IMAP server. So when you delete
them on the server they'll still disappear from your local machine.
And the other way round. Use POP3.

As for why TB doesn't want to grab mail that was sorted into
other folders within hotmail: no idea.


Cheers,
Tink

Tinkster,

I wasn't yelling, I was highlighting the clearer part of what I was looking for in case someone reading the thread for the first time wanted to skip to something that was closer to the point. I now realize that my initial post wasn't extremely clear. However, some of the answers in this thread had nothing to do with my initial question and simply answered "how to put email messages from server to hard disk". Anyway, I appreciate your following through, I really do.

Okay. I'm going to give it all a shot. I'm going to make a backup of Thunderbird first, just in case I accidentally, for some reason, delete everything from the server (or Thunderbird).

I won't be getting to it right away, once I've made a backup, I'll carefully modify the settings and experiment a little... Actually, I think I'll do it with another, less important gmail account first.

The hotmail question is still open if there are any takers... and, in the meantime, if anybody has had the exact problem I am having and can confirm that disactivating IMAP makes it all work in gmail like I want it to, your help would be appreciated.

I will post back with my results, whether it works or not.

Many thanks,

rm

Hi again,

I've just tested POP and IMAP with different parameters, none of which work. Gmail does not have (or at least I didn't see it anywhere) any POP3 option.

In all cases, if I delete a message from the server directly from Firefox, it deletes in Thunderbird too. In no case does it conserve the message in Thunderbird... or at least I wasn't able to get it to conserve a message in Thunderbird after deleting the message from the server via a browser.

Either a lot of ink was spilled for nothing or I'm missing something.

Perhaps other email clients allow this or perhaps there is a setting in Thunderbird. I've looked and looked and looked, but was unable to find any setting that allowed me to conserve messages, that is, to never delete a message in Thunderbird so that there is a constant accumulation of messages in Thunderbird even if the message no longer exists on the server.

Funny, I've seen the same situation where the server copy is deleted and the email client copy is conserved, however I repeat, I wish to conserve all message both server side and client side and to delete some messages on the server all the while conserving them in an email client.

If anybody knows of a specific solution that works or of an email client that can do this, I'm all ears.

rm

I have a mailbox which I connect to using POP (POP3 is just the latest version) in Thunderbird, IMAP on my phone and webmail. I have just tried the experiment of deleting in the web client an email which Thunderbird has downloaded. I was left with the mail still in Thunderbird but gone on my phone.
The only thing I can think of is either you have ticked, or not unticked, "Fetch Headers Only".

273,

I love your id! Too cool!

Thanks for your reply, and your patience in reading through all of the messages.

Okay, I think we're finally getting somewhere...

I've got Thunderbird version 11.0.1.

I've found (I think) the place that "Fetch headers only" should be, Account Settings -> Server Settings (right pane) ... But I don't see "Fetch headers only" anywhere.

I've explored a bit.

Gmail side, POP and IMAP are both activated. I've deactivated IMAP, but Thunderbird isn't happy, no connection possible.

Thunderbird side, I've got "Server Type IMAP Mail Server" which is not a field I can write in, it's written in permanently (see attached screenshot). I don't know how to change this setting. I've tried restarting Thunderbird, logging in and out of my gmail account but have had no success. I don't see any "refresh" or "reset" possibility on the Thunderbird side.

Despite all of this, I think we're getting closer to an answer.

Thanks,

rm

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Yes, where it says "Server Type: IMAP Server" gives it away .
Your problem, I think, is that ThunderBird may default to setting Google up as IMAP.
When you are setting up the account and get to the "Mail Account Settings" screen then make sure you select "POP3" from the drop-down menu.
If it does some automagic stuff then break out of that and set it up manually.