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Copying email folders/subfolders from Local to Gmail

  • 3 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • Last reply by Matt

FBrill
FBrill
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Hello! I'm hoping someone can help me figure out why, when I try to copy email folders from Local to Gmail using Thunderbird, only the first 1-2 subfolders are copying over. (I tried to upload a screen shot to illustrate, but keep getting an error message.)

My end goal is to have all email files residing in Gmail, NOT Local, so they're automatically saved and accessible via Gmail if ever needed (though I use & love Thunderbird for everyday viewing/responding/organizing!) I have a separate biz email that was set up this way at the start -- but for some reason my personal email files all ended up in Local and I can't figure out how to get everything 100% duplicated in Gmail so I can confidently delete the Local folders. Praying I won't have to do this manually for every subfolder!!

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Hello! I'm hoping someone can help me figure out why, when I try to copy email folders from Local to Gmail using Thunderbird, only the first 1-2 subfolders are copying over. (I tried to upload a screen shot to illustrate, but keep getting an error message.) My end goal is to have all email files residing in Gmail, NOT Local, so they're automatically saved and accessible via Gmail if ever needed (though I use & love Thunderbird for everyday viewing/responding/organizing!) I have a separate biz email that was set up this way at the start -- but for some reason my personal email files all ended up in Local and I can't figure out how to get everything 100% duplicated in Gmail so I can confidently delete the Local folders. Praying I won't have to do this manually for every subfolder!! Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

All Replies (3)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
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First, IMAP was not designed for massive uploads. In doing it, you may have difficulties and, even when messages are uploaded, you need to spot check to verify that the full messages are there. My suggestion is to do small groups at a time and to create a filter to manage this. Having a manual filter automatically slows the process and that helps ensure the upload is successful. I suggest treating each folder separately.

Helpful?

FBrill
FBrill Question owner
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Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, it's now not even allowing ONE folder to be copied. I'm getting a Tbird pop-up error message that says "mail server contains excess white space." I'm not a tech person. I have no idea what this means.

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Matt
Matt
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You are not a tech person, but you are attempting a huge backup using a tool that is not designed for the purpose. Either you need to get technical or well, I really don't have another option.

My guess is Google have suspended further uploads for 24 hours as you have expended your allocated daily bandwidth. Like everything you pay for (even with your personal data) there are limits and google do publish theirs. They are generous for getting and sending mail and backing up files to google drive. Not so much for trying to use gmail as a backup drive.

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