By saying local folders I will assume that you mean folders under the Thunderbird Local Folders account. When you move a message from a folder on the IMAP server to a folder under Local Folders in Thunderbird you are setting the Delete flag for that message on the server. Gmails procedure for a deleted message is to move it to their All Mail folder. You can discuss getting that changed with gmail.

Personally I do not subscribe to the All Mail folder of gmail. It is useless to me and out of sight is out of mind.

Go to File-Subscribe in Thunderbird and unsubscribe to the All Mail folder if it bothers you.

Folders under the Local Folder special account in Thunderbird do not sync with any server folders.

Thanks a lot for your response...I will check once back from work. Meanwhile pls find some info below: By saying local folders I will assume that you mean folders under the Thunderbird Local Folders account. - Correct Go to File-Subscribe in Thunderbird and unsubscribe to the All Mail folder if it bothers you. - okay, so If i do that in TB then I reckon no need to discuss with Gmail separately on their deleted mails handling policy? Folders under the Local Folder special account in Thunderbird do not sync with any server folders. - Sorry whats the Local Folder special account in TB? How do I get one?

The Local Folder account is a default account and cannot be deleted. So you have one and it will be listed in the Folder Pane with your other email accounts. Unless you decided to rename it for unknown reasons it will be displayed as Local Folders,

Ok..got it and am I correct in my below understanding?

Go to File-Subscribe in Thunderbird and unsubscribe to the All Mail folder if it bothers you. - okay, so If i do that in TB then I reckon no need to discuss with Gmail separately on their deleted mails handling policy?

If you unsubscribe to folders on an IMAP server you will not see them from an email client like Thunderbird.

I doubt talking to gmail would do anything. It was more of a tongue in cheek comment. Gmail does what they want to do. You use their free service, you use it like they want it to be. The point is that all mail in gmail is in the All Mail folder with tags added to give the illusion that they are in different folders. You might want to check and clean out the All Mail folder once in a while. You will be surprised at all you find there. Just Note: All mail means must that. Remove it from the All Mail folder and it is gone. No matter what folder you think the message might be in.

Ok...thanks for the pointer on 'All Mail'. Just so I got it correctly...if i delete any messages from the 'All Mail' folder in Gmail web, the messages are gone for good as in physically deleted and gives me back some space in Gmail..yes?

Yes. You should also Compact your Thunderbird folders on a regular basis. When you delete a message in Thunderbird it marks it for deletion and hides it. Compacting removes deleted items and frees up space. This explains the Thunderbird Compact function. It is a poorly named function and is frequently misunderstood. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/compacting-folders

Ah..okay...all these days I was getting a pop-up asking if I am ok to go for compacting folders and save 2.5 gigs space in the process..wasn't sure..so every time i will hit the cancel...lol. Glad you clarified it now and its about time I press the 'Yes' button..many thanks mate.

Pls help me with this requirement. I want to 'move' mails from Gmail to TB Local Folders in TB client and the moved mails should be 'deleted' from Gmail server (thus giving me back some storage in Gmail). Any settings in Gmail web client and/or in TB client to achieve this pls?

Make folders under the Local Folders account for the messages. Select the messages you want to move. I suggest you COPY them instead of move so if something goes wrong you still have the original. You can right click the selected messages and select Move To. Navigate to your new folder and select it. When you know the messages are in the new folder and you can open and read them you can delete the copy on the gmail server.

You can also drag and drop messages between folders but using the Move To selection from the menu is safer and more accurate. Some peoples aim is not too good when dropping messages and then they have no idea where the message went.

I would compact your folder after getting your messages moved and confirming they are when they belong and then deleting the server copies.

You can compact individual folders by right clicking the folder and selecting compact or compact all folders when using the compact command under the File menu.

Airmail said

... you can delete the copy on the gmail server.

Do I have to do that manually? There is no merit in that honestly. Isn't there any settings in Gmail server or TB client to achieve this on its own whenever the movement happens without my intervention?

Yes do it manually.

Airmail said

Yes do it manually.

Meaning there is no automated process to take care of it?

I think the answer was pretty clear. Ask gmail how to use their system if you have question on how their server works.

When you 'move' emails from a gmail folder to any folder in 'Local Folders', gmail sees this as you removing the gmail label from that email and so gmail archives the email in 'All Mail' folder. So email is not really deleted; it is archived on the server using space. If this is what you want then continue with moving.

If you 'Copy' email to 'Local Folders' then gmail will do nothing. Then if you really want that email properly deleted off the gmail server, you need to delete it in Thunderbird so the email goes to the subscribed gmail imap 'Trash/Bin' folder. Gmail will then auto delete that email after a given period - usually 30 days which offers a little time for changing your mind. This email will have the folder label removed and in due course will be deleted from 'All Mail' folder. Thus creating space on server and increasing quota.

Airmail said

--- Folders under the Local Folder special account in Thunderbird do not sync with any server folders.

Earlier you said this. I think by this you implied that messages I move from Server folders to Local folders, they won't show up in server folders but will be present in 'All mail' folder of server, right?

Toad-Hall said thanks mate...all I want is to keep a copy of some mails in my local and have them removed from Gmail server thus freeing up some space on server in the process and also retaining my mails locally should I ever need to refer them in future. Is that possible?

re :all I want is to keep a copy of some mails in my local and have them removed from Gmail server thus freeing up some space on server in the process and also retaining my mails locally should I ever need to refer them in future. Is that possible?

Yes. Use 'Copy' to put them in a suitable folder in 'Local Folders'. then delete email from imap folder. That deleted email must go into the imap gmail trash folder.

So make sure you are subscribed to see the gmail trash folder (I use gmail and in my case they call the Trash 'Bin' ). If unsure check this:

• Right click on imap gmail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Subscribe'
• Select the gmail Trash folder
• click on Subscribe' button
• click on OK

Make sure you are using it when you click on Delete.

• Right click on imap gmail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings'

The Account Settings window opens.

• Select: 'Server Settings' for gmail imap account

'When I delete a message'

• select 'Move to this folder' and select the subscribed imap gmail trash folder.
• click on OK.

See image below as guide.

Note: I know you did not ask about this but....... If the copied emails do not seem to have content when you check them after moving then perhaps you are only copying headers. If this is the case then make sure you are synchronising your folders to get full copies downloaded. All info on imap and synchronising at this link: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/imap-synchronization

Excellent..many thanks for that helpful explanation and guide with supporting image...I was in look out for this sort of settings in the client to achieve my ask...and thanks for the ProTip at the end on syncing the folders for full mail copies...cheers mate!