Go to tools>account settings>syncronization&storage. Tick the box to keep messages in all folders and also click the Advanced button to tick the folders you want saved locally. Messages will be stored in the named folders you are using online.

Thank you for the reply. Is it correct that thunderbird stores the emails here:

C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ri3w11uh.default-release\ImapMail\imap.gmail.com\**foldername**

??

I can see the foldername there, but the file in that folder looks like bianry etxt. Is there a way to see a regular text version of all the mails?

Yes, they're stored there and are readable with Thunderbird. If you want to read them via other software, you will need to export the messages as .eml files and then convert them to text files. Since you want to keep all of them, you would likely need to do this periodically, such as exporting weekly to ensure all files are retained.

Thank you again. Excuse my supreme ignorance:

Where is the export command to export an entire folder?

TIA

Hi Fiends! Is there a way to tell thunderbird to save to my local PC EVERY email that I send and receive?

Another possible interpretation is you want a backup of these emails. If what you want is a backup, then synchronization to local storage isn't the solution.

TB has a default ability to right-click on one or more messages in message list and 'save as...' to individual files with eml suffix, which would then need another utility to convert to text. There is an addon called ImportExportTools that offers an Export function, but it exports entire folder into an mbox (binary) format that then requires a separate utility to extract to text. Both of these are clumsy solutions to your desire to have all messages accessible outside of TB.

So am I correct that a tool to convert Mbox to text DOES NOT EXIST?!

Seems a little odd....

I didn't say that. I said '... requires a separate utility to extract to text' Do a web search for convert mbox to text and there are a number of solutions presented. You would need to do this periodically, replacing prior versions, to avoid duplication, or possibly add a new folder periodically to account. Otherwise, each download becomes bigger than the last one. I hope this info is helpful to you.