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Using thunderbird with a custom domain I changed providers but same email, then my local emails disappeared. (lemmy.selfhostcat.com)

submitted 6 days ago by ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com to c/foss@beehaw.org

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Sorry idk if this is the right place to ask.

Struggling with retrieving my offline emails!

Changed the server info and password but email is the same.

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[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So one of my computers still had the emails. I was able to move them into local folders, though moving more than 100 at a day would crash TB. Then I setup the new IMAP sync and everything works fine.

It seems going forward I should send copies to those local folders? TB works rather unintuitively. Thank you for your help! You helped me understand and explore my options :)

[–] skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl 1 points 20 hours ago

Local folders are traditionally meant for protocols like POP3, where the standard procedure for email is to get downloaded and deleted from the server. IMAP is designed to keep email on the server, like you'd expect in most cases.

You can copy mail to local folders as a backup, but the problem you encountered is that the protocol was technically right, but you didn't know about the details of migrating email providers. This problem should only happen in two scenarios: when your email vendor seriously fucks up, or when you migrate mail servers without first copying all the email over. As long as you keep backups for the first scenario, and remember to copy over email first during the next migration, you should be in the clear.

You can use your email in whatever method you prefer, of course. I prefer to keep email centralised around my server. If you're going local-first, you could consider using the older POP3 protocol instead, which is more local-oriented.