Saving old emails offline
I have installed Thunderbird and synced several email accounts, including Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail. How do I move the old emails into local folders (if that is what I should be doing) that will no longer sync with the online folders. I want to keep the local folders as a backup of the online accounts. Thank you.
Chosen solution
Option a) would be the most convenient one, as you'd just need to set up synchronization once, and be done.
For Option b) you'd need to create POP accounts first. POP has only access to Inbox on the server, so you'd have to manually replicate any folder structure which may exist on the server, and manually copy messages from other folders than Inbox. Also, make yourself familiar with the differences between POP and IMAP - Google is your friend.
Option c) would be an entirely manual process.
Regardless of that, all three options would achieve the same result - an offline copy of your messages on the local disk. Not sure if this is all you want to achieve, or if there's something else.
Can I copy multiple emails from different accounts and place them into the same local folder?
Yes, you can.
Do the 3 methods I mentioned end up with the the same final result?
They do.
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What is the account type of your account(s) - POP or IMAP?
I used IMAP for all the accounts.
The easiest thing to do would be turning on 'synchronization' for your IMAP accounts. 'Synchronization' is Thunderbird speak for downloading an offline copy of your messages on the server to your local disk. This can be set on a per folder basis. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/imap-synchronization
Once all messages have been downloaded you can simply backup the Thunderbird profile. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile
I appreciate the solution you have presented. But, after doing some reading online, I am still a bit confused. What would be the difference between a) synchronizing from IMAP, b) switching to POP and redownload all the emails, or c) copying the existing emails into local folders and the deleting from IMAP accounts? Can I copy multiple emails from different accounts and place them into the same local folder? Do the 3 methods I mentioned end up with the the same final result?
Chosen Solution
Option a) would be the most convenient one, as you'd just need to set up synchronization once, and be done.
For Option b) you'd need to create POP accounts first. POP has only access to Inbox on the server, so you'd have to manually replicate any folder structure which may exist on the server, and manually copy messages from other folders than Inbox. Also, make yourself familiar with the differences between POP and IMAP - Google is your friend.
Option c) would be an entirely manual process.
Regardless of that, all three options would achieve the same result - an offline copy of your messages on the local disk. Not sure if this is all you want to achieve, or if there's something else.
Can I copy multiple emails from different accounts and place them into the same local folder?
Yes, you can.
Do the 3 methods I mentioned end up with the the same final result?
They do.
I tried your recommended method with Synchronization, but whether I turn it on or off, it still appears that any changes I make are immediately reflected in the other location(ie Thunderbird and Gmail). But I wanted to combine emails from three different email apps into local folders and I have done so successfully by just manually moving the emails. Now I can backup the local folders and have a stored copy of all my past emails and delete some old emails off of the online services. Thank you for the suggestions and your perseverance.