how to change an email account from pop3 to imap
my email account was originally set up to use imap. I have two other accounts on Thunderbird and they have been functioning normally imap. Somehow my main account now shows up in account settings as using POP3 / 995 instead of imap / 993 and account has stopped loading incoming messages to the inbox folder. I tried to use the manual config and change it back to imap but it won't change. Questions: How do get back to IMAP and 2, if I delete this account are re establish it as a imap will I lose all of my stored messages? Thank you
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You can't change an account from POP to IMAP or vice versa by changing the settings. POP and IMAP are usually handled by two separate code modules and so are not interchangeable.
You should simply add the account again and take care, if offered a choice, to choose between POP or IMAP. If the type you want isn't offered, you have to choose the manual setup option and enter the required ports etc by hand.
(Yes it is possible to have both POP and IMAP instances of the same account, co-existing in Thunderbird. Give them distinct names so you know which is which, and to avoid "server already exists" error messages. It is generally not useful to have both types installed together, but can be helpful as a temporary arrangement when making a transition as in your case.)
Your POP-connected account will have downloaded all its messages and they are stored on your computer. Yes, if you remove that account, those messages will vanish.
Get the new IMAP-connected version of the account set up.
Now decide what you want to do with the old POP-connected account. I wouldn't choose to leave it in place as it will throw up errors every time it tries and fails to connect to the server. So I'd move all of its messages. If there are current ongoing discussions, I'd move them to the new IMAP-connected instance so they remain visible and accessible in the working account. If I had older messages that are required only for reference purposes, I would move them to the Local Folders account in Thunderbird.
When you have secured all the messages you want to keep, I'd delete the old POP-connected account, if only to remove visual clutter. In current versions of Thunderbird, when you remove an account, there is an option to also remove its data, meaning all the stored messages in that account will be deleted. Selecting this will free up local disk space. Not selecting it means that the mailbox files will remain in place (but hidden in Thunderbird) and possibly be useful for emergency recovery of lost messages.
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