I am assuming your account is of the default IMAP type (having all mail sort of confirms it) If your emails are not on the gmail server, then Thunderbird will be syncing the content of your folders to that empty account and syncing them to oblivion.

Can you fix this. Seriously what has happened is the biggest issue in trying to answer that. There may be some that can be recovered. Did you do some housekeeping say on a phone or set up mail on another device? What lead to this?

Hi Matt,

For my personal Gmail account that doesn't have an administrator, all of the previously "filed" emails perfectly organized in folders, were in TRASH. So I was able to send them to my INBOX. (Ugh: now I will have to refile all of them!!).

Unfortunately, the other two gmail accounts have an administrator. The emails are still available for a RESTORE. This is the second time Thunderbird has deleted my emails as I open them ... then deleting the entire contents of a file/folder.

Clearly, I can't trust Thunderbird with Gmail. I love Thunderbird. My AIM/AOL email account is fine: just the Gmail account.

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're facing with Thunderbird and your Gmail accounts. It sounds like there might be a synchronization issue causing your emails to be deleted when you open them. If you're using IMAP for your Gmail accounts, there could be a syncing problem between Thunderbird and the Gmail server. It's essential to ensure your emails are still present on the Gmail server before trying to fix Thunderbird. To address this, you might want to reach out to Gmail support for assistance. Additionally, consider checking if Thunderbird is up to date and if any add-ons are causing conflicts. Always make sure to back up your important emails before attempting any fixes.