Are you using POP? If so, then switch to IMAP. Switch from POP to IMAP account For a description: IMAP vs POP

Make sure you use the correct settings in Thunderbird for the account. See my screenshot below.

I am using POP. I got help from a computer technician and was able to download email from the server using a simplified directory path: C:\Users\Jane\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\localmail

But with this workaround I don't have access to all the mail in my original account. So another technician today found that by eliminating the period before default in the profile name I could access the mail in the original account without getting the Local Directory Path error. However, I can't download emails. This time, the message I get is "Checking Inbox for new messages" and I am eventually told my gmail accounts are up to date, and never seems to get to the att server, with the green status bar remaining on for minutes longer.

What will be involved with changing to IMAP? I want to be able to search my email with the Windows search box. Do I also change my gmail accounts too (right now I can look at everything easily in Thunderbird and yet keep the accounts separate)? At this point, on other devices I only look at my email on a browser.

Those errors sound like a ATT side issue NOT with Thunderbird, but can you please share the info shown in the troubleshooting info File menu> Tools> Troubleshooting Info (DO NOT CHECK the profile info)

I cut off some of the printer information to fit this message:

 Application Basics

   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 52.2.0
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/52.2.0
   Profile Folder: Open Folder

             (Local drive)
   Application Build ID: 20170612130409
   Enabled Plugins: about:plugins
   Build Configuration: about:buildconfig
   Memory Use: about:memory
   Profiles: about:profiles

 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext

   account2:
     INCOMING: account2, , (pop3) inbound.att.net:995, SSL, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: , outbound.att.net:465, SSL, passwordCleartext, true

   account8:
     INCOMING: account8, , (imap) imap.gmail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true

   account9:
     INCOMING: account9, , (imap) imap.gmail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true

   account10:
     INCOMING: account10, , (imap) imap.gmail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true

   account11:
     INCOMING: account11, , (imap) imap.gmail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true

 Crash Reports

 Extensions
   CompactHeader, 2.1.0, true, {58D4392A-842E-11DE-B51A-C7B855D89593}
   ImportExportTools, 3.2.4.1, true, {3ed8cc52-86fc-4613-9026-c1ef969da4c3}
   Lightning, 5.4.2, true, {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}
   Remove Duplicate Messages (Alternate), 0.3.12, true, {a300a000-5e21-4ee0-a115-9ec8f4eaa92b}
   Thunderbird Conversations, 2.11.4, true, gconversation@xulforum.org
   Extra Folder Columns, 1.1.5, false, extra-cols@jminta_gmail.com

 Important Modified Preferences

   Name: Value

     accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0
     browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
     browser.zoom.full: true
     dom.apps.reset-permissions: true
     dom.max_chrome_script_run_time: 0
     extensions.lastAppVersion: 52.2.0
     font.internaluseonly.changed: false
     font.name.monospace.el: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.tr: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-baltic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-central-euro: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas
     font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.tr: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-baltic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-central-euro: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Albertus Medium
     font.name.serif.el: Cambria
     font.name.serif.tr: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-baltic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-central-euro: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria
     font.size.fixed.el: 14
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     font.size.fixed.x-baltic: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-central-euro: 14
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     font.size.variable.el: 17
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     font.size.variable.x-central-euro: 17
     font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17
     font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17
     gfx.blacklist.suggested-driver-version: 6.1400.1000.5218
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.appVersion: 45.5.0
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.deviceID: 0x0a16
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.driverVersion: 10.18.14.4414
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.direct3d11-angle: true
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle: true
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-d3d11: false
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-force-warp: false
     gfx.crash-guard.glcontext.gfx.driver-init.webgl-angle-try-d3d11: true
     gfx.crash-guard.status.glcontext: 2
     gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0
     mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1
     mail.winsearch.enable: true
     mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true
     mail.winsearch.global_reindex_time: 1494793965
     mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 958cd30a-5eef-4862-9865-faca00eb529
     mailnews.database.global.views.conversation.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false…
     mailnews.database.global.views.global.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false…
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A mystery--the messages are now downloading again, without my making any changes.

It looks like you have 4 Gmail accounts, all using IMAP, and are set up correctly.

Your one AT&T account is set up using POP. If you use IMAP for it, it will work the same as your Gmail accounts.

AT&T e-mail is done by Yahoo. When Yahoo went public last autumn about their data breach, they notified everyone to change their e-mail password. Eventually they started to force people to change their e-mail password if they had not already done so, by not allowing people access to their e-mail.

So if you haven't changed your e-mail password since last autumn, do so now via the AT&T website.

Since the beginning of the year, Yahoo is not supporting POP very well. Many people have had problems with Yahoo POP (with many third-party e-mail programs, not just Thunderbird), but when they started using IMAP instead, suddenly all those problems go away. I blame Yahoo.

Yahoo is also requiring people to use an App Password with third-party e-mail programs like Thunderbird. Which means enabling 2 factor authentication. Last time I looked, AT&T had not accommodated this yet. Yahoo: Understand and create 3rd party app passwords

So the easiest route is to switch to IMAP. The article Switch from POP to IMAP account gives detailed instructions for how to do this.

It sounds like those computer techs you had mucking about with the Thunderbird Profile didn't really know much about Thunderbird.

Thunderbird stores all personal data such as messages, address books, calendars and configuration settings in a hard drive folder called the Profile. This folder is separate from the installation of Thunderbird. Its default location and naming is: C:\Users\**username**\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default Where the xxxxxxxx is random letters and numbers and the part after the period is the name of the Profile.

A Thunderbird Profile can be created elsewhere and/or with a simple name, if you want. Your first tech created a new Profile which was missing everything from the old profile. The second tech changed the name of the old profile, and got Thunderbird to use it.

Read more here: Profiles - Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data.

Nehemiah25 said

A mystery--the messages are now downloading again, without my making any changes.

This is probably due to the AT&T/Yahoo POP e-mail servers working inconsistently. What I said about switching to IMAP stands.

If you continue using POP, when you have problems like this again, you will know the source of the problem.

OK, I'll try switching--I hadn't even noticed that the gmail was using IMAP. I assume I can change back to POP if there is a problem. I appreciate your clear instructions on what I need to do and will try it.

I am in the process of switching to IMAP. I don't want to lose my archived messages from the POP account but would prefer to do so locally. This https://www.infopackets.com/news/9998/how-fix-sort-and-archive-emails-thunderbird-locally-or-remote explains how to do this but when I try to make a change in the Account Settings, I get this message in Account Wizard: "An account with this name already exists. Please enter a different account name."

I can't do any changes in the Account Settings window.

Must I be online to see my inbox and anything else not in Local Folders?

1. Disable your POP account, so it doesn't download new messages while the other steps are being performed. a. Right-click your account in the normal folder view of Thunderbird and choose Settings. b. Click on Server Settings on the left side for your account. c. On the right side, un-check both Check for new messages at startup and Check for new messages every XX minutes.

2. Move all your e-mail messages and folders from the POP account to Thunderbird's Local Folders, by dragging and dropping. The Local Folders are just on your computer, not on any server.

3. Once all the e-mails & folders for the POP account have been moved safely to Local Folders, then remove the POP account. a. Right-click your account in the normal folder view of Thunderbird and choose Settings. b. Click the Account Actions button on the bottom left, then click Remove Account. Do this for only that account.

4. Add the new IMAP account. a. Right after step 3b above, click the Account Actions button again, then click Add Mail Account. b. Enter your name, e-mail address, and password, then click the Continue button. c. After it has found the settings, do not click Done. Click the Manual config button. d. Click on the button that says POP3, and change it to IMAP. e. Change all the other settings in that window to match the screenshot below. Then click the Done button.

5. Quit Thunderbird. Wait a few seconds, then start Thunderbird again. Your account with all the IMAP folders will now show.

6. If you want to use the Archive function in Thunderbird, then read this article to learn how to use it: Archived Messages.

I already created the IMAP account following the link you gave me: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-pop-imap-account?cache=no

I assume this won't be a problem and I don't follow step 4 but can remove the POP account by following your instructions.

I guess it makes sense to use the Local Folders in each section, Inbox, Sent, etc.?

I already have extensive Archives--should they be moved to Local Folders?

Nehemiah25 said

I guess it makes sense to use the Local Folders in each section, Inbox, Sent, etc.? I already have extensive Archives--should they be moved to Local Folders?

Yes and Yes.

Anything you don't move from the POP account before you delete the account will be lost.

I don't recommend moving your old e-mails to the new IMAP account. IMAP was never designed to work for uploading to, just downloading. So while it is possible to upload stuff to IMAP folders, there are usually problems with e-mails going missing during the process.

Thank you for the guidance on how to proceed. It's a big change and quite complicated.

What do you recommend in terms of back-up and security? Move important messages to Local Folders on a regular basis? I fear deleting something inadvertently and having no way to recover it.

I attempted to move all my Archives to local folders but see that some of the folders I thought I had transferred are now empty. I backed up the profile on an expansion drive before this process began, so can I copy these folders to my computer?

I discover that when I do a global search, I cannot open all the messages, or a message list. Is this because the local folders into which I moved most of my old POP email are not synced? Do I need to re-index?