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How do I achieve my archive request?

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  • Last reply by El Barto

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Hello folks,

I use an email provider with a web interface in my daily business. For backup purposes, I start Thunderbird every few days and download all emails from this account to my local Thunderbird profile via IMAP (and regularly back up this profile to a separate hard disk).

Due to a size limitation of my online mailbox, I would now like to archive old emails and thus remove them from the online mailbox.

What I want to achieve:

  1. Once archived emails should disappear from the online mailbox.
  2. Emails from the last two years should still be accessible online.
  3. The existing folder structure should be retained.
  4. Access to emails within the archive via Thunderbird must be ensured.
  5. I need to be able to back up the local profile / archive to an external hard disk via copy&paste.

I have installed the Thunderbird extension "AutoarchiveReloaded" for this purpose and now need some help in sorting my thoughts and later setting up the archiving.

  1. To ensure that the emails are deleted from the online mailbox after archiving, I set the Thunderbird option "mail.imap.expunge_after_delete" to true.
  2. In the Thunderbird account, I set the option "[x] Keep messages archives in > Archives Folder > Local Folder".
  3. I also set the "Archive options..." to "Yearly archived folders" and "[x] Keep existing folder structure of archived messages".
  4. I set the AutorarchiveReloaded limits as requested (i.e. 730 days)
  5. I can still save the local mailbox (with the archived emails) by copying the Thunderbird profile (currently '/home/ElBarto/.thunderbird/1d4ztbb9.default-release/') as the "Local Directory" below "Local Folders" is the same path and is only supplemented by the subdirectory 'Local'.
  6. And most importantly: data loss due to archiving must be avoided at all costs. I am talking here about 20 years of email history, which I have moved securely and completely with every email provider move so far.

Does it all work like this or have I made a mistake somewhere?

Thank you very much for your support and have a nice Sunday!

Hello folks, I use an email provider with a web interface in my daily business. For backup purposes, I start Thunderbird every few days and download all emails from this account to my local Thunderbird profile via IMAP (and regularly back up this profile to a separate hard disk). Due to a size limitation of my online mailbox, I would now like to archive old emails and thus remove them from the online mailbox. What I want to achieve: # Once archived emails should disappear from the online mailbox. # Emails from the last two years should still be accessible online. # The existing folder structure should be retained. # Access to emails within the archive via Thunderbird must be ensured. # I need to be able to back up the local profile / archive to an external hard disk via copy&paste. I have installed the Thunderbird extension "AutoarchiveReloaded" for this purpose and now need some help in sorting my thoughts and later setting up the archiving. # To ensure that the emails are deleted from the online mailbox after archiving, I set the Thunderbird option "mail.imap.expunge_after_delete" to true. # In the Thunderbird account, I set the option "[x] Keep messages archives in > Archives Folder > Local Folder". # I also set the "Archive options..." to "Yearly archived folders" and "[x] Keep existing folder structure of archived messages". # I set the AutorarchiveReloaded limits as requested (i.e. 730 days) # I can still save the local mailbox (with the archived emails) by copying the Thunderbird profile (currently '/home/ElBarto/.thunderbird/1d4ztbb9.default-release/') as the "Local Directory" below "Local Folders" is the same path and is only supplemented by the subdirectory 'Local'. # And most importantly: data loss due to archiving must be avoided at all costs. I am talking here about 20 years of email history, which I have moved securely and completely with every email provider move so far. Does it all work like this or have I made a mistake somewhere? Thank you very much for your support and have a nice Sunday!

All Replies (1)

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The more I think about point 1 (mail.imap.expunge_after_delete), the more I am convinced that I don't need to set this option at all. Archiving an email from the online to the local mailbox should also trigger a deletion in the online mailbox via IMAP. Is this correct?

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