Do you currently have a Pop or IMAP mail account?

POP. It's through my current ISP, Cox, which I will be cancelling when we move. My question is, what do I do to keep all my current Thunderbird folders and subfolders once I drop my account and have to go with gmail?

As you have used a Pop mail account, those emails will be stored on your computer.

Move all folders and emails into 'Local Folders'. when all emails are in Local Folders, remove the Pop mail account.

• Tools > Account Settings
• select the pop mail account
• click on 'Account Actions'
• select 'Remove account'
• click on OK to save changes

Whilst you can select to alter the server settings so that it does not check for new messages nor download new mail, that Pop mail account will still show up as a FROM email address, which can be irritating if you accidentally use it. So, I recommend you use the Local Folders to store those emails.

Info on creating a backup of your Profile:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup

I absolutely don't understand.

Let me repeat: I want to keep all the old folders in which I've been storing emails (from POP) for years (they're part of my business, and they're critical). But, after I have to start using gmail for email, I need to be able to add future messages to them. I only use one computer, so synching with other gizmos is not a requirement.

Also, you've told me how to get rid of my current POP email account, but not how to read gmail messages through Thunderbird (I absolutely do NOT want to use gmail's silly screens) and permanently store some emails on my machine in folders with old emails.

Can somebody please help me? Again, I want to keep Thunderbird looking the way it does now, but use gmail for email and permanently store some gmail messages on my computer for future reference.

I'm not stupid about computers, but I really don't understand gmail. What I need is some continuity between when I have to stop my current POP account and set up another one with my future ISP.

I have told you what to do with the current Pop mail account folders. Move them to Local Folders - you could create a folder called 'Old Cox' in Local Folders and moving the folders to display under that folder. This will preserve all your emails.

This is the first stage. What do you not understand about this?

Do you know how to move folders and emails by drag and drop method?

Or in Local Folder account, create new folders with approprate names to match the current folder names and then highlight and select to move emails to the respective folders.

After moving everything into Local Folders, then you can remove the pop mail account. This will give you access to all of your folders and emails except instead of being under their own pop mail account, they will be under Local Folders; perhaps under the folder called 'Old Cox' or whatever you chose to call it.

Gmail can be set up as a separate mail account at any time you do not have to wait. If you do not have a gmail account then create one. Then create a new mail account in thunderbird for the gmail account. You can choose to use pop or imap. This will be created as a completely separate mail account. If you want to keep those emails on your computer like your current Pop mail account, then choose POP.

Then when you receive an email into the gmail pop account, which you would like to store with older emails that were related. Move the email into the appropriate folder in Local Folders.

If you do not have one, get a gmail account:

• https://support.google.com/mail/answer/56256?hl=en

Gmail and Thunderbird - follow info that relates to POP:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_Gmail_with_Thunderbird_and_Mozilla_Suite