Changing internet providers; need to access old emails from new email address
I am about to change internet providers and, with that, email addresses and I wanted to know how can I save my old emails from the current providers and be able to access them once I have the new provider. I am still wanting to view some of these, as many of them have information I would like to utilise before and after the switch. I am not sure there is anything I can do about this other than emailing various documents to more stable email addresses and viewing them there. Any and all help and feedback is appreciated.
Chosen solution
When you ask Thunderbird to create a folder in the 'Local Folder' directory, it is not associated with any specific account.
You can move mail from any of your mail accounts into these folders and have full access to the messages within them, even when the original account is closed. You can put messages from several different providers into the same 'Local Folder'.
Very useful when you wish to group your messages by some category.
TB-38.3 Win10-PC
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (3)
What type of mail account does your current internet provider use, POP or IMAP?
With POP, you should already have all your messages on your machine, although they may be in folders listed under your service providers account. (such as Inbox, Sent, Archive, Trash, etc.) If you close and remove this account, these folders will no longer be available to you. To prevent from losing your messages, move the messages from these folders into new or existing folders you create under Local Folders. You are taking the messages outside of the old providers account folder and they will then be accessible to you after the account is closed.
If the account is IMAP based, your provider usually stores your messages on the server and you may, or may not, have copies of all your mail. Before closing the account, copy all messages from the IMAP folders into your Local Folders. You may have set some IMAP folders to not download their contents to your local machine. Check that you have copies of all your important messages from that provider, before you close your account.
After you move the messages, and before you close the account, it would be wise to back up your profile. Just in case...
TB-38.3 Win10-PC
Hello, I believe it is POP. I will place the emails into a 'Local Folder' and see what happens. I will still be using Thunderbird so would the Thunderbird software be able to detect this new local folder when I switch over? I ask because, if it is saved to the machine, then it should be able to access it despite the different email address.
I will read up about how to backup the profile; thank you very much for your response.
Chosen Solution
When you ask Thunderbird to create a folder in the 'Local Folder' directory, it is not associated with any specific account.
You can move mail from any of your mail accounts into these folders and have full access to the messages within them, even when the original account is closed. You can put messages from several different providers into the same 'Local Folder'.
Very useful when you wish to group your messages by some category.
TB-38.3 Win10-PC