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Thunderbird,POP,Gmail - emails in linked thunderbird inbox, but not showing up in gmail

  • 7 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by ssraj

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So, I'm helping my mom out with transferring emails from one gmail account to another.

I'm successfully able to import the .mbox files from the googletakeouts folder into the thunderbird account that is linked to her gmail through Pop, (not IMAP), using an older version of thunderbird (102.9.1) [since the new version you can't import .mbox files - kind of a deal breaker if you're trying to do massive email migrations because google has decided that .mbox files is the cleanest way to do it, but boy am i so grateful this actually worked].

On thunderbird I see all ~112,000 emails all nice and pretty in the local files. So I then in select all and move all the emails into [Inbox]- bam no problems...but now when I go into the gmail account in the chrome browser I don't see them. IMAP and POP are enabled on the account, they're also not in the [All mail] folder. They just aren't there. I've quit thunderbird and restarted, and did the same to the gmail account. Switched the SMTP port for thunderbird from 465 to 587. Nothing

TLDR - I can pull the emails up in thunderbird no problem. But i don't see them in the gmail inbox. Do I change server type from POP/local storage to IMAP? what's the fix boss

much appreciated!

So, I'm helping my mom out with transferring emails from one gmail account to another. I'm successfully able to import the .mbox files from the googletakeouts folder into the thunderbird account that is linked to her gmail through Pop, (not IMAP), using an older version of thunderbird (102.9.1) [since the new version you can't import .mbox files - kind of a deal breaker if you're trying to do massive email migrations because google has decided that .mbox files is the cleanest way to do it, but boy am i so grateful this actually worked]. On thunderbird I see all ~112,000 emails all nice and pretty in the local files. So I then in select all and move all the emails into [Inbox]- bam no problems...but now when I go into the gmail account in the chrome browser I don't see them. IMAP and POP are enabled on the account, they're also not in the [All mail] folder. They just aren't there. I've quit thunderbird and restarted, and did the same to the gmail account. Switched the SMTP port for thunderbird from 465 to 587. Nothing TLDR - I can pull the emails up in thunderbird no problem. But i don't see them in the gmail inbox. Do I change server type from POP/local storage to IMAP? what's the fix boss much appreciated!

All Replies (7)

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Are you trying to upload mail from Local Folders to a folder on the gmail server? That's not as straightforward as it appears:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1331879

You might have better luck by setting the new account to collect mail from the other account, through the gmail website.

Also, an add-on isn't needed to import mbox files to TB Local Folders, although for TB 115 there is one.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1417914

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Hi sfhowes,

that is exactly what i am trying to do! the gmail website works well for forwarding new mail, but is atrocious by design to import old mail,

I was able to add the Copyfolder add-on to thunderbird, but right clicking on the the mail that i wanted to copy didn't pull up any option to use the extension. I then proceeded to download thunderbird version 78, had to relink to the gmail profile, and now all of those emails that were stored to my local folder are gone. I see multiple profiles in my user\library\thunderbird folder, which i guess is where the emails are stored if i'm using Pop?

I attempted to run Profile Manager by entering "/Applications/Thunderbird.app/Contents/MacOS/thunderbird-bin -ProfileManager? in terminal but i'm getting an 'Unhandled error during faulting  Error Domain=NScocoaErrorDomain Code=134092"


in the following thread you mentioned- about the add-on not being required to import mbox files. for version 115....however they are saying that the files are .eml: /Applications/Thunderbird.app/Contents/MacOS/thunderbird-bin -ProfileManager

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oh forgot to mention the reason I can't do all this through gmail it's transferring from a g-suite account to gmail... .mbox becomes the only option

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Open gmail in a browser and then look at Settings, Accounts & Import, and try the Import mail & contacts or Check mail from other accounts to collect mail from the other gmail account.

It's probably easier to manage profiles from Help/Troubleshooting Info, about:profiles.

POP mail is in the Mail/<popservername> subfolder of the profile folder. An mbox file can be imported by copying it into the Mail/Local Folders subfolder, while TB is closed. To import eml files, launch TB and create a subfolder of Local Folders, then add eml files from Finder (or Win File Explorer) by drag and drop to the subfolder. Both mbox and eml files can be imported/exported with the IET NG add-on, but it's not necessary for simple operations.

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that method doesn't work from gsuite to gmail.

I can see the transferred mail in my Thunderbird folder - mail\pop.gmail.com\inbox.

Is there another step to be able to view in gmail? I have POP3 enabled in that account

Modified by ssraj

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The problem was solved by removing the Pop server and using IMAP instead. Thank you for your add-on suggestions- they were the key. However it aborted leaving about 10K emails left. If I attempt to run the copy folders add-0n--> the one that was linked in the thread that you originally sent (78-copyfolder.xpi -- only works with TB ESR 78.*, will this copy duplicates? Is there a way to only copy the emails that got left out?

Modified by ssraj

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now the copy folder option when I right click has dissappeared. I reinstalled in the add-on to no avail