Trying to change pop account to imap, but only gives me the option to change current pop account, won't let me add imap account with same email.
I tried changing my POP account over to an IMAP account. I followed the instructions provided through Mozilla, however when I went to generate a new IMAP account with the same email address, it said one was already there, so my only option was to alter the POP account to IMAP...which didn't work. Lost folders and couldn't access either account. Had to do a system restore to get everything back. Can I generate a dummy IMAP email account, add it to Thunderbird, move folders to dummy account, delete POP account, then re-add real email as IMAP and transfer the folders back? Is there a better, less time consuming way?
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Before you remove the POP account and add the IMAP account, open Tools/Account Settings, select the POP account in the left pane, then change the Account Name in the right pane so it's not the same as the IMAP account name, e.g. add POP to the name.
Account names default to the email address, which is why it's better to give them distinct names.
Sorry, but unfortunately this didn't work. I changed the account name on the POP account, but when I tried to generate the IMAP account, it still only gave me the option to change the POP account details. It did not give me the IMAP/POP3 radio buttons like you get when you add a new existing email account. I generated a dummy IMAP email account and am trying to transfer everything over now. Unfortunately, I will have to do it all again when I delete the POP account and add the original email as an IMAP account. Is there anything else that I can do outside of this arduous process? Something I'm missing in T-bird?
You could copy the POP messages to a subfolder of Local Folders as backup, confirm the operation, then remove the POP account from Account Actions in Account Settings, then add the IMAP account. The choice of POP or IMAP should be available, but you can also bypass the setup wizard by clicking Manual config. after you enter your credentials in the new account dialog, or add the account while offline (File/Offline/Work Offline).
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Convert_a_POP_account_to_a_IMAP_account
Ok, I'll try that. I assume I can move the files from my local folders back to the IMAP server once I generate the new IMAP account? I will have to do it offline as I don't want emails to flood in till the transfer is done. Once I put it back online, will the emails duplicate? I've had many, many instances where Thunderbird has brought in the same email up to five or more times, creating thousands of duplicates over the past year. I've tried everything to fix that too, but no luck. I'll live with it, but I just didn't want to have to go through it all again after I put it online. Thanks for your time.
You could move messages from Local Folders to IMAP folders, and they would sync with the IMAP server when you went back online, but I wouldn't recommend it unless it's only a matter of a few messages. Why complicate the new IMAP setup, unless you really need to access the old messages from other devices?