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How to delete messages only in MT (not on serveur)

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by LedZep

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Hi all !

I am a noob on Mozilla Thunderbird (MT). I would like to use it at work cause I f...ing hate Outlook.

I cannot find how to configure it like Outlook for two things which are necessary for my boss and me. My boss is looking at the emails on his phone. I'm looking at them with my PC at work. I do not want him to miss any message. So, if I delete them at work, I want them to remain on the server. Only exception : if I empty the trash, I'd like the messages to be deleted on server too.

Other thing I need : I do not want email marked as opened if he opened them on his phone. Same thing on the other way : if I open a message, I do not want him to see it as opened on server.

Shortened version of what I would like : no synchro at all except for deleted messages with trash emptied.

I was not able to configure MT with these. Can you help me ?

Hi all ! I am a noob on Mozilla Thunderbird (MT). I would like to use it at work cause I f...ing hate Outlook. I cannot find how to configure it like Outlook for two things which are necessary for my boss and me. My boss is looking at the emails on his phone. I'm looking at them with my PC at work. I do not want him to miss any message. So, if I delete them at work, I want them to remain on the server. Only exception : if I empty the trash, I'd like the messages to be deleted on server too. Other thing I need : I do not want email marked as opened if he opened them on his phone. Same thing on the other way : if I open a message, I do not want him to see it as opened on server. Shortened version of what I would like : no synchro at all except for deleted messages with trash emptied. I was not able to configure MT with these. Can you help me ?

Chosen solution

re :My boss is looking at the emails on his phone. I'm looking at them with my PC at work. I do not want him to miss any message.

If your boss wants to see 'incoming' and 'outgoing' and you are accessing everything via various methods, then the emails have to be stored on the server. This means you need to use an IMAP mail account.

Imap mail accounts are a virtual copy of what is on server. In effect the folders you/your boss see are the same folders, just a different view of them. The imap folders are constantly synchronising to show what is on server. This also means that whatever anyone does eg: open email and it auto is marked as read or delete then this occurs on the server. As you/your boss see what is on the server, anyone who opens an unread email will get it automatically marked as read, so they would need to set it back to be marked as 'unread'.

It is possible to set up Thunderbird to download full copies of emails and pass them though a Message Filter, marking all as unread and put the copies into your 'Local Folders' mail account Inbox folder. Anything you do in those folders in 'Local Folders' mail account is not connected to server, so you can open them, read, move to other folders within Local Folders account for organising and storing. It is only those in the imap mail account which synch with server. So you can choose whether you interact with server eg: Delete via the imap folders or whether you want all mail marked 'unread' and you read separately from the server folders.


If boss does not need to see anything you send; boss just needs to see incoming, then you could set up to use POP mail accounts, which can only access and download from the server Inbox. POP accounts do not synchronise folders, so if you read that email it would not mark it as read on server, but both of you would need to make sure you have selected the option to 'Leave message on server' otherwise onced popped off server it could be auto deleted making it impossible for the other person to download something that does not exist.

In Thunderbird, the setting to 'Leave message on server' is in the Account Settings window, under 'Server Settings' for pop mail account. See image below. select checkbox 'Leave message on server' If you want deleted items to be deleted off server then also select the 'Until I delete them' checkbox. click on 'OK'

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No solution anyone ?

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Chosen Solution

re :My boss is looking at the emails on his phone. I'm looking at them with my PC at work. I do not want him to miss any message.

If your boss wants to see 'incoming' and 'outgoing' and you are accessing everything via various methods, then the emails have to be stored on the server. This means you need to use an IMAP mail account.

Imap mail accounts are a virtual copy of what is on server. In effect the folders you/your boss see are the same folders, just a different view of them. The imap folders are constantly synchronising to show what is on server. This also means that whatever anyone does eg: open email and it auto is marked as read or delete then this occurs on the server. As you/your boss see what is on the server, anyone who opens an unread email will get it automatically marked as read, so they would need to set it back to be marked as 'unread'.

It is possible to set up Thunderbird to download full copies of emails and pass them though a Message Filter, marking all as unread and put the copies into your 'Local Folders' mail account Inbox folder. Anything you do in those folders in 'Local Folders' mail account is not connected to server, so you can open them, read, move to other folders within Local Folders account for organising and storing. It is only those in the imap mail account which synch with server. So you can choose whether you interact with server eg: Delete via the imap folders or whether you want all mail marked 'unread' and you read separately from the server folders.


If boss does not need to see anything you send; boss just needs to see incoming, then you could set up to use POP mail accounts, which can only access and download from the server Inbox. POP accounts do not synchronise folders, so if you read that email it would not mark it as read on server, but both of you would need to make sure you have selected the option to 'Leave message on server' otherwise onced popped off server it could be auto deleted making it impossible for the other person to download something that does not exist.

In Thunderbird, the setting to 'Leave message on server' is in the Account Settings window, under 'Server Settings' for pop mail account. See image below. select checkbox 'Leave message on server' If you want deleted items to be deleted off server then also select the 'Until I delete them' checkbox. click on 'OK'

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Thank you Toad-Hall !

I will try these.

Michel

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Just a little message to thank you. I configured my account as POP. I had to erase my previous configuration that was created as IMAP by default.

POP was the solution. Thank you very much !