My emails disappeared after switching from pop to imap. They are not on the AOL server (I have a verizon address which switched to AOL a few years ago).
I switched from a POP server to IMAP and all my received emails were on my computer. When I logged off the program (Thunderbird) and then started the program again I saw that they were there but then the screen flashed and it looks like all the emails that I had received from the POP server were gone and only the ones received from the IMAP server remained. I have Thunderbird on other devices and the old emails are gone from all my other devices as well. I am running Windows 7 on my computer and I also have an iPhone and android tablet. Is there a way to retrieve my old emails?
All Replies (7)
I switched from a POP server to IMAP
Please explain in detail the steps you did.
all my received emails were on my computer.
What does that mean? Which account? Did you tell Thunderbird to leave messages on the server for your POP account?
I followed all the steps that were in the Thunderbird help section about how to switch to IMAP. After I did that I was sending and receiving emails with no problem. All my old received emails were on my computer even after I switched to the IMAP account. I did not change any of the server options and I still checked the button that told Thunderbird not to delete any old emails. But after I shut down my computer and then restarted it and then opened Thunderbird I saw that the emails from the POP account were still there but then they all went away. I just checked another Windows 10 computer that I don't use often and it shows that it is using the POP server and the emails that were deleted from my Windows 7 computer with the IMAP server are still on the POP server. Is there a way to retrieve those?
I followed all the steps that were in the Thunderbird help section about how to switch to IMAP.
Please post a link.
Here is the link to the instructions I used: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-pop-imap-account
All my old received emails were on my computer even after I switched to the IMAP account.
I've asked this before but you didn't answer the question: Do you mean the messages downloaded to your computer using the old POP account? That would affect Inbox only. Or are we talking about messages in the Sent folder? Please confirm.
I did not change any of the server options and I still checked the button that told Thunderbird not to delete any old emails.
That means all messages should still be on the server. And the messages previously visible in your POP account's Inbox should now be visible in the IMAP account.
But after I shut down my computer and then restarted it and then opened Thunderbird I saw that the emails from the POP account were still there but then they all went away.
In the support article there is the step to 'Transfer your local messages to the server'.
Please explain in detail what you did and what happened.
Modified by christ1
My inbox contained all my old emails from the POP server. I could tell because it showed the total number of emails and unread emails at the bottom of the page. That's when the screen flashed and then I saw that all the emails that I received from the POP server were missing. My sent folder still has all my old sent emails. I did transfer my local messages to the server. I can't recall exactly what I did but I do remember dragging and dropping like the instructions said and I remember it taking several minutes to transfer because there were so many messages.
I did transfer my local messages to the server.
So then all messages are now on the IMAP server, and no messages are effectively lost? If that's the case, then I don't understand the problem.
Why your local messages in the POP accounts Inbox disappeared, I don't know. But it has got nothing to do with creating the IMAP account. Here are possible reasons: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Disappearing_mail
The most common cause for this is anti-virus software messing with Thunderbird mail files.