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Transferring eMail to Hard Drive 2
- Thread starter dik
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #21
I think that the two screen dumps you included are for the actual emails - i.e. they have the same data as are on the gmail server.
If you go up the folder tree from "01-BSE" do you get to the folder "ImapMail"?
The contents are similar... The first one if from Thunderbird itself (eMail client) and the second is from imap in the profile directory. I don't know if Thunderbird is accessing the profile on the hard drive or is accessing the GMail server. The same data appears to be in both places.
If you do then I would expect the next folder at the same level as "ImapMail" to be "Mail", and under that you will find the folder "Mail" and the first folder within that will be "Local Folders".
I don't recall having to create (within Thunderbird) the "Local Folders" - I think it was just there automatically.
I'll check later tonight... I've got a couple of gators here that have to be put down first (for my 'real' work).
If (a dangerous word here) I am correct all you need to do is copy (or move), within Thunderbird, the project folders from where they are to under "Local Folders".
I just want to have a local copy and if I delete some files on GMail account that they won't be removed from my hard disk copy. I've already made a copy of the profile files on one of my portable hard drives.
If you log in to gmail on the internet instead of via Thunderbird do you see "01-BSE" and the folders under it as shown in your previous post?
The eMail data is consistent on both GMail and Thunderbird. If I delete a file on one, it's deleted on the other. If I move a folder on one, say from an active project to a completed one, it's done to both GMail and Thunderbird. I'm pretty sure they are both accessing the GMail server. It may be that if I increase GMail that I will quit getting the Thunderbird notification that I'm over 90%.
Thanks... sorry for taking up so much of your time... Dik
If you go up the folder tree from "01-BSE" do you get to the folder "ImapMail"?
The contents are similar... The first one if from Thunderbird itself (eMail client) and the second is from imap in the profile directory. I don't know if Thunderbird is accessing the profile on the hard drive or is accessing the GMail server. The same data appears to be in both places.
If you do then I would expect the next folder at the same level as "ImapMail" to be "Mail", and under that you will find the folder "Mail" and the first folder within that will be "Local Folders".
I don't recall having to create (within Thunderbird) the "Local Folders" - I think it was just there automatically.
I'll check later tonight... I've got a couple of gators here that have to be put down first (for my 'real' work).
If (a dangerous word here) I am correct all you need to do is copy (or move), within Thunderbird, the project folders from where they are to under "Local Folders".
I just want to have a local copy and if I delete some files on GMail account that they won't be removed from my hard disk copy. I've already made a copy of the profile files on one of my portable hard drives.
If you log in to gmail on the internet instead of via Thunderbird do you see "01-BSE" and the folders under it as shown in your previous post?
The eMail data is consistent on both GMail and Thunderbird. If I delete a file on one, it's deleted on the other. If I move a folder on one, say from an active project to a completed one, it's done to both GMail and Thunderbird. I'm pretty sure they are both accessing the GMail server. It may be that if I increase GMail that I will quit getting the Thunderbird notification that I'm over 90%.
Thanks... sorry for taking up so much of your time... Dik
Does your Thunderbird screen look something like the one below? It is the left hand pane that is the main interest.
You will see the "Local Folders" entry. This is only on your hard drive whereas the ones above are a mirror of what is on the mail server.
On my hard drive in "C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\htd94rcz.default\ImapMail" I have a folder structure similar to the top four in the screen shot.
In "C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\htd94rcz.default\Mail" is the folder "Local Folders" and within that are the various projects/categories that I created within Thunderbird.
You will see the "Local Folders" entry. This is only on your hard drive whereas the ones above are a mirror of what is on the mail server.
On my hard drive in "C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\htd94rcz.default\ImapMail" I have a folder structure similar to the top four in the screen shot.
In "C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\htd94rcz.default\Mail" is the folder "Local Folders" and within that are the various projects/categories that I created within Thunderbird.
- Thread starter
- #23
I think we are getting close.
The first screen shot is similar to mine except that many of the names are different (obviously).
If you scroll down the left pane you should see "Local Folders" at the same level as the email address at the top of the pane. That is where you want to copy your old emails to.
In my equivalent of your second screen shot I have the same files that you have plus some folders and files that hold the emails that I have copied there.
If you scroll down to Local Folders and create a folder, say 2017, you should see a folder appear in file explorer as in your second screen shot. You could then copy the emails from your existing 2017 into the local 2017. (I have seen something in Thunderbird help suggesting that it is a bad idea to copy more than about 2,000 emails in one go.)
One you have verified that the copy works, and have backed up the Local Folders directory, you can delete the original 2017. This will also remove it from the gmail server. I backup everything under the Thunderbird folder under AppData/Roaming and have used this to successfully transfer a working system to another pc.
The first screen shot is similar to mine except that many of the names are different (obviously).
If you scroll down the left pane you should see "Local Folders" at the same level as the email address at the top of the pane. That is where you want to copy your old emails to.
In my equivalent of your second screen shot I have the same files that you have plus some folders and files that hold the emails that I have copied there.
If you scroll down to Local Folders and create a folder, say 2017, you should see a folder appear in file explorer as in your second screen shot. You could then copy the emails from your existing 2017 into the local 2017. (I have seen something in Thunderbird help suggesting that it is a bad idea to copy more than about 2,000 emails in one go.)
One you have verified that the copy works, and have backed up the Local Folders directory, you can delete the original 2017. This will also remove it from the gmail server. I backup everything under the Thunderbird folder under AppData/Roaming and have used this to successfully transfer a working system to another pc.
- Thread starter
- #25
I think we are getting close.
Yes... all is well and I've learned a bit about eMail folders.
The first screen shot is similar to mine except that many of the names are different (obviously).
If you scroll down the left pane you should see "Local Folders" at the same level as the email address at the top of the pane. That is where you want to copy your old emails to.
If I copy my old inactive eMails to the 'Local Folders', does that take them off the gMail server? I'll try moving my nested sub-directories. I know that I can move complete folders in my existing 'directory tree'.
In my equivalent of your second screen shot I have the same files that you have plus some folders and files that hold the emails that I have copied there.
If you scroll down to Local Folders and create a folder, say 2017, you should see a folder appear in file explorer as in your second screen shot. You could then copy the emails from your existing 2017 into the local 2017. (I have seen something in Thunderbird help suggesting that it is a bad idea to copy more than about 2,000 emails in one go.)
Thanks for the heads up... I'll try it with some folders that aren't particularly important... a lot of my work related stuff is critical... some of it not so...
One you have verified that the copy works, and have backed up the Local Folders directory, you can delete the original 2017. This will also remove it from the gmail server. I backup everything under the Thunderbird folder under AppData/Roaming and have used this to successfully transfer a working system to another pc.
Great... we'll give it a shot. I would have thought this would be so commonplace that they would have a 'simple button' and not just a 'id 10 T', one...
I'll let you know what happens. That may have been in the original docs that I didn't read...I'll try it, now... if you hear a scream... you'll know that something didn't work![[lol]](/data/assets/smilies/lol.gif "[lol] [lol]")
. You've been an incredible help and very patient.
Yes... all is well and I've learned a bit about eMail folders.
The first screen shot is similar to mine except that many of the names are different (obviously).
If you scroll down the left pane you should see "Local Folders" at the same level as the email address at the top of the pane. That is where you want to copy your old emails to.
If I copy my old inactive eMails to the 'Local Folders', does that take them off the gMail server? I'll try moving my nested sub-directories. I know that I can move complete folders in my existing 'directory tree'.
In my equivalent of your second screen shot I have the same files that you have plus some folders and files that hold the emails that I have copied there.
If you scroll down to Local Folders and create a folder, say 2017, you should see a folder appear in file explorer as in your second screen shot. You could then copy the emails from your existing 2017 into the local 2017. (I have seen something in Thunderbird help suggesting that it is a bad idea to copy more than about 2,000 emails in one go.)
Thanks for the heads up... I'll try it with some folders that aren't particularly important... a lot of my work related stuff is critical... some of it not so...
One you have verified that the copy works, and have backed up the Local Folders directory, you can delete the original 2017. This will also remove it from the gmail server. I backup everything under the Thunderbird folder under AppData/Roaming and have used this to successfully transfer a working system to another pc.
Great... we'll give it a shot. I would have thought this would be so commonplace that they would have a 'simple button' and not just a 'id 10 T', one...
I'll let you know what happens. That may have been in the original docs that I didn't read...I'll try it, now... if you hear a scream... you'll know that something didn't work
. You've been an incredible help and very patient.- Thread starter
- #26
It works great... and when copying folders to the 'LocalFolder', files nested in several directories 'deep' will copy. You have to be careful about the number of files, as you note. Failure causes Thunderbird to stop and you need to re-boot the computer to continue. If I send myself an eMail, it can be moved from the 'inbox' to whatever folder I want.
Is there an automatic process to copy this, automatically, to the 'LocalFolder' sub-directory?
Is there a problem with deleting the 'AllMail' folder contents? It appears to be a copy of the 'Inbox' and the 'sentMail'. I've checked and the contents appear to be duplicates.
Thanks, Dik
Is there an automatic process to copy this, automatically, to the 'LocalFolder' sub-directory?
Is there a problem with deleting the 'AllMail' folder contents? It appears to be a copy of the 'Inbox' and the 'sentMail'. I've checked and the contents appear to be duplicates.
Thanks, Dik
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- #27
If I copy my old inactive eMails to the 'Local Folders', does that take them off the gMail server? I'll try moving my nested sub-directories. I know that I can move complete folders in my existing 'directory tree'.
Not if you copy them, but if you move (or delete) them it will.
I don't think there is any automatic process to archive emails in the way that there is on Outlook. Here is a link to a Thunderbird help page that seems to back up my thoughts.
"
I don't know what AllMail is. I have pretty much ignored it and thought it might be some sort of link that did not use any space. Having looked at my disc I was wrong about the space usage. The file "All Mail" is larger than any other file. My guess is that if you remove an email from, for example, the Inbox it will also be removed from "All Mail" and vice versa.
Here is a link to an explanation of "All Mail".
"
Hope it all goes OK from here.
Not if you copy them, but if you move (or delete) them it will.
I don't think there is any automatic process to archive emails in the way that there is on Outlook. Here is a link to a Thunderbird help page that seems to back up my thoughts.
"
I don't know what AllMail is. I have pretty much ignored it and thought it might be some sort of link that did not use any space. Having looked at my disc I was wrong about the space usage. The file "All Mail" is larger than any other file. My guess is that if you remove an email from, for example, the Inbox it will also be removed from "All Mail" and vice versa.
Here is a link to an explanation of "All Mail".
"
Hope it all goes OK from here.
- Thread starter
- #28
- Thread starter
- #29
There are a couple of things I have to get used to (after 20 years or so)... I have to consciously save the file to local before I send it to the server project file... also if I copy it and there is already a copy, it doesn't overwrite... it posts a completely new one. All my old record stuff that I need to save is on the hard disk. It appears to work great.
Dik
Dik
I have to consciously save the file to local before I send it to the server project file.
Not sure I understand what you mean by the above. From what I can tell, in Thunderbird, you can copy an email from anywhere to anywhere and it updates the gmail server. So having sent the email you will see it Thunderbird and can copy it from there. (It will also show emails that you sent from another machine or from within gmail on the internet.) I have just copied an email from the inbox of one mail account to the sent folder of another mail account and can see it in gmail on the internet.
also if I copy it and there is already a copy, it doesn't overwrite... it posts a completely new one.
True. A right royal pain in the butt!
Not sure I understand what you mean by the above. From what I can tell, in Thunderbird, you can copy an email from anywhere to anywhere and it updates the gmail server. So having sent the email you will see it Thunderbird and can copy it from there. (It will also show emails that you sent from another machine or from within gmail on the internet.) I have just copied an email from the inbox of one mail account to the sent folder of another mail account and can see it in gmail on the internet.
also if I copy it and there is already a copy, it doesn't overwrite... it posts a completely new one.
True. A right royal pain in the butt!
- Thread starter
- #31
Yes... I just have to get into the habit of one more step to copy it to the local file first. Still a work in progress; I haven't sorted out the easiest 'foolproof' way of doing this. Just finished copying all my 'allmail' to local and have deleted them off the server. So far so good... thanks again, I owe you a beer... I think I just sorted it out... I'll keep doing it as I have, and when it comes time to move the project into completed, I'll copy if first to local.
I hope I am not panicking unnecessarily but I have just had a thought on data security.
If you don't use local folders and your pc crashes and you lose your hard drive you will still have the emails on the mail server.
If you move some emails to local folders they will only exist on your local drive. If your pc crashes before you backup your pc you will have lost those emails (unless they had arrived before your previous backup).
Might be an idea to do any moving of emails immediately before you backup your pc.
Hope this makes sense.
If you don't use local folders and your pc crashes and you lose your hard drive you will still have the emails on the mail server.
If you move some emails to local folders they will only exist on your local drive. If your pc crashes before you backup your pc you will have lost those emails (unless they had arrived before your previous backup).
Might be an idea to do any moving of emails immediately before you backup your pc.
Hope this makes sense.
- Thread starter
- #33
goombawaho
MIS
I hope you have OFFline backup to avoid ransomware issues. You know, if you use an external backup drive or USB stick and you leave it connected all the time and you got ransomware, the ransomware will try to encrypt your backup too. That's why online backup is better - 1) versioning and 2) protection from flood/fire/theft
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- #35
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- #36
This just arrived in my 'in basket'.
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