Archiving from Web-based Outlook
I'm currently using a Hotmail account for email. It's a free account and, as I understand, is now called web-based Outlook or Outlook.com. This is different from the paid desktop version of Outlook. I understand my version of Outlook stores emails in the cloud, not on my local PC.
I've been notified that cloud-based storage for my emails is nearing maximum capacity. One option is to pay for more storage but I'm reluctant to do that. Further, I would like to create copies of my emails, store them on my local PC, and then delete the oldest from Outlook. That frees up cloud-based storage AND lets me preserve the emails on my own hardware. After MANY chats with forum volunteers knowledgeable about Outlook, I've learned that only the desktop version of Outlook has the ability to export folders of emails to my local PC for archiving. Also, those emails would only be viewable using desktop Outlook. In all cases, the volunteers also suggested Thunderbird as a method for archiving my emails. That's why I'm here.
I've checked through as many old posts as possible but would still like a bit of encouragement before downloading and using Thunderbird. Here are my very basic questions:
1. Will Thunderbird allow me to access and download email folders from my web-based Outlook program? 2. Once the emails are safely on my local PC, what software will I need to open and read the messages? My current mail program (Outlook)? Thunderbird? Something else? 3. As I understand it, my version of Outlook stores messages in Folders, as opposed to Gmail which uses labels. Will I be able to preserve my Folders in the archiving process or do all archived emails go into one large folder? By the way, I'm not looking for automatic archiving; I'd be happy to archive manually once per year.
Many thanks in advance. I look forward to giving Thunderbird a try.
Dick
Chosen solution
The settings in the link are for Hotmail, outlook.com and any other type of consumer MS account.
It's fine for one person to access the same account on multiple devices or with multiple mail apps - that is the main advantage of IMAP over POP - but if two people are accessing the same account, make sure they aren't creating conflicts, e.g. one user deletes a message while the other is reading it.
If you add the account to TB on one computer, you don't have to add TB to the other one, but the other mail app should have the account set up as IMAP as well.
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Add your Hotmail account to TB, using the settings here, then copy any messages from the mail server to Local Folders to keep them on the local computer. Confirm the copy, then delete from the originating folders, which will delete them from the server.
Hmm. The link goes to a post somewhat similar but maybe with important differences. I am using Outlook but it is NOT associated with Office365. How do I find the correct server name?
Also, a complication. Two people in my home are accessing the same Outlook/Hotmail account from different computers. If I install TB on one computer and add the Outlook/Hotmail account to TB, does this affect accessing the account from the other computer? Would I need to add TB to both computers?
Thanks.
Chosen Solution
The settings in the link are for Hotmail, outlook.com and any other type of consumer MS account.
It's fine for one person to access the same account on multiple devices or with multiple mail apps - that is the main advantage of IMAP over POP - but if two people are accessing the same account, make sure they aren't creating conflicts, e.g. one user deletes a message while the other is reading it.
If you add the account to TB on one computer, you don't have to add TB to the other one, but the other mail app should have the account set up as IMAP as well.
Many thanks for the clarifications. I'm going to give it a try.