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Thunderbird deletes messages from server though I've told it not to.

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  • Last reply by mepe

mepe
mepe
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I'm using a POP3 server and have "Leave messages on server -- until I delete them" checked but Thunderbird is still deleting messages from the server before my other email viewer gets them.

If my other program (MR2ICE running under OS2 on another machine) gets to the messages first, I'll see them on both machines.

If Thunderbird gets them first I don't get them on the other machine and, when I check via webmail, they aren't there.

Thanks.

I'm using a POP3 server and have "Leave messages on server -- until I delete them" checked but Thunderbird is still deleting messages from the server before my other email viewer gets them. If my other program (MR2ICE running under OS2 on another machine) gets to the messages first, I'll see them on both machines. If Thunderbird gets them first I don't get them on the other machine and, when I check via webmail, they aren't there. Thanks.

Chosen solution

If you want to see messages on multiple machines, POP isn't the best choice. Do you choose to use POP, or is it imposed on you by the mail provider?

I don't have a working POP account here to check with, but can you try with the "until I delete them" option unchecked? Do you do anything with the messages, such as move them to another folder?

I've never been confident with how "until I delete them" works; if a message has been moved out of the Inbox to another folder, and you delete it, does a request to delete the message still propagate back to the server?

With IMAP, moving a message from an account folder to somewhere that the IMAP server cannot see it is effectively a delete; the server can no longer see the message, so synchronizes by deleting its own copy of that message. I haven't checked through what a POP server does under similar circumstances.

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All Replies (2)

Zenos
Zenos
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Chosen Solution

If you want to see messages on multiple machines, POP isn't the best choice. Do you choose to use POP, or is it imposed on you by the mail provider?

I don't have a working POP account here to check with, but can you try with the "until I delete them" option unchecked? Do you do anything with the messages, such as move them to another folder?

I've never been confident with how "until I delete them" works; if a message has been moved out of the Inbox to another folder, and you delete it, does a request to delete the message still propagate back to the server?

With IMAP, moving a message from an account folder to somewhere that the IMAP server cannot see it is effectively a delete; the server can no longer see the message, so synchronizes by deleting its own copy of that message. I haven't checked through what a POP server does under similar circumstances.

Modified by Zenos

mepe
mepe Question owner
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I waited to be sure but, yes, unchecking "until I delete" fixed it.

I think I didn't understand what that meant when I checked it.

Thanks.