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How can I keep recent messages in Thunderbird without deleting them from the server?

rated 0 times [ 2] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 1682 / 3 Years ago, tue, october 12, 2021, 1:25:13

I've just started using Thunderbird instead of web mail because I'd like the ability to view and send emails offline.

I currently have it connected to Gmail using IMAP, but in order to sync I have to manually select sync from File > Offline > Download/Sync Now , and even then it appears to still download the entire inbox instead of just the recent ones.

How can I automatically keep the last 90 days worth of mail on my computer without deleting anything from the server?

These are my current Synchronization & Storage settings but they don't appear to do much:

And here are the Server Settings:

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irtuallyefu

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3 Years ago

answered 3 Years ago jectedrin · Accepted Answer

It is definitely possible to synchronise offline mail in Thunderbird using IMAP. I am doing just this, for both a Google account and another IMAP account. Using IMAP (in my opinion) is preferable to POP3, because I can make changes locally and they get reflected in the webmail server and then also on other machines I have Thunderbird running on.

I don't remember the exact steps, but setting up the Google account was different. There is a different wizard for it that makes it easier, and this also provided some settings for me. It sounds like you've been able to get Gmail working in Thunderbird over IMAP - so you must have found this wizard.

I have a number of custom folders, so I had to do this for each of the ones I was interested in. Right-click on the folder, and go to Properties. I had to check the "When getting new messages for this account, always check this folder" option to ensure I got notifications properly - sometimes I would miss seeing new e-mails in custom folders.

Then under Synchronization:

It can take some time to download all the messages, but I am able to access them offline.

The only difference with your setup and mine is I have set to store all e-mail. I don't know how the above "Select this folder for offline use" will correspond with the 90 days setting you have globally for the account.