Option to Retain Emails Locally in Thunderbird Even After Deletion on IMAP Server, with Two-Way Sync

[ahmad2]

I would like to propose a new optional feature for Thunderbird that enhances email retention and backup for IMAP accounts. This feature would enable Thunderbird to keep a local copy of emails even if they are deleted from the IMAP server.

The use case is to protect users against situations where emails might be lost due to server issues such as subscription lapses, hacking, or accidental deletion on the server side. With this option enabled, Thunderbird would maintain a local backup of all received emails independently of the server state.

Additionally, it would be useful to offer an inverse synchronization option that allows Thunderbird to upload and restore emails on the server if they exist locally but are missing on the IMAP server. This two-way sync would strengthen data redundancy and improve email availability for users.

This feature would provide a reliable safety net for users relying on IMAP accounts, combining local storage security with server synchronization flexibility.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[flaqueman]

You can move an email from an IMAP server to the "local folder" of Thunderbird and vice versa.

Just drag and drop the email to "Local folder" (at the bottom of your folder panel). The email will be removed from server and saved locally.

That's how I moved 10+years of emails from my gmail account to my non-google email.

[ahmad2]

I have some questions that will explain my point of view:

- Do I need to manually drag each received and each sent email ?(I also have other folders than "received" and "sent" like "to read", "drafts").

- If I lose my PC, will there still be a version on the server, or dragging to local folders will delete the server version ?

[flaqueman]

You can Ctrl+A and select every mail in a folder but if you have several folders, you'd have to repeat the process several times.

As for your second question, I'm not sure. Maybe you can try with a test mail