This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Thunderbird and Gmail Synchonization

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

spurfilm
spurfilm
more options

I have successfully installed Thunderbird and linked it by IMAP to my Gmail account. All working fine. Mail has all been downloaded. However, I want Thunderbird to always download new mail, but never delete anything, even if it was deleted from within Gmail. This is because Thunderbird will be my archive of everything. Then I will be able to delete old messages from Gmail, and know I still have archived copies in Thunderbird. Can you please tell me how to set this up?

I have successfully installed Thunderbird and linked it by IMAP to my Gmail account. All working fine. Mail has all been downloaded. However, I want Thunderbird to always download new mail, but never delete anything, even if it was deleted from within Gmail. This is because Thunderbird will be my archive of everything. Then I will be able to delete old messages from Gmail, and know I still have archived copies in Thunderbird. Can you please tell me how to set this up?

Chosen solution

With IMAP, if you delete from TB or the gmail website, it's deleted from both, as IMAP is a synchronized system. To keep messages permanently in TB, copy them to subfolders of Local Folders, either manually or automatically with a filter. Filters only run automatically on Inbox, but can also be run manually on any other folder such as Sent Mail.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (1)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Chosen Solution

With IMAP, if you delete from TB or the gmail website, it's deleted from both, as IMAP is a synchronized system. To keep messages permanently in TB, copy them to subfolders of Local Folders, either manually or automatically with a filter. Filters only run automatically on Inbox, but can also be run manually on any other folder such as Sent Mail.