Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

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tanstaafl
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by tanstaafl »

"When I set up Gmail I input my netspace account details, user name, password, server name, port etc"

That doesn't sound like a normal free Gmail account and I don't think it would work.

I found https://support.google.com/mail/thread/62045651?hl=en which I suspect is you asking for help in the google forums, where it appears you created a free Gmail IMAP account in Thunderbird, but configured gmail webmail to automatically fetch mail from your netspace mailbox using their POP server and merge it into the Gmail inbox, but forgot to tell it to leave a copy of the original on the server.

Was that you? If so it would have been polite to have posted a link to the other forum thread.
Alfie16
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Joined: November 15th, 2016, 8:38 pm

Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by Alfie16 »

Yes, you're quite right, that was me. I thought the problem may have its roots in Gmail so posted on their forum. No offence intended but I'm an exceedingly rare contributor to forums such as this and would have no idea how to post a link even had I been aware of any protocol involved.

I didn't 'forget to tell it' anything, by the way, speaking of being polite. I'm 78 years of age, probably old enough to be your father and perhaps deserving of something a little better than a flippant discourtesy like that. What I simply failed to do, so I understand, was to notice that there was a box to be checked which would have allowed messages to be left on the IMAP server.

My post on the Google site was useful in any event and pointed me in the direction of adding a Gmail account to Thunderbird which I managed to do. I can now at least access emails via Thunderbird, although transferring them to my Thunderbird inbox is currently futile because they disappear after a short time.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by tanstaafl »

"I noticed while this was happening that as the messages appeared in Gmail they were vanishing from Thunderbird!"

Do you have both a netspace and a gmail IMAP account in Thunderbird? If you did, and configured gmail webmail to fetch mail from a netspace POP server without checking the checkbox to leave the original messages in place, that would cause messages to disappear in one account and show up in the other (in Thunderbird).

I'm still confused what your configuration is. Think about copying&pasting just the mail&news account section from help -> troubleshooting information. You could press the copy text to clipboard button, open Notepad, select it, use Control-V to paste the contents into NotePad, select just the mail&news account section using a mouse, use Control-C to copy it and then use Control-V to paste it into a post.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by DanRaisch »

For many (most?) of the moderators on the board, at 78 you are just old enough to be a not much older brother. So the respect should be flowing both ways. To someone asking a reasonable question and for those offering support in response.

Perhaps we are dealing with some lack of understanding about how email clients work. I’m a bit confused about your reference to “transferring them to my Thunderbird Inbox”. If you’ve set up a Gmail account in Thunderbird, the messages should be arriving in that account’s inbox without any transfer involved. Could you clarify what you are doing when you refer to “transferring”?
Alfie16
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Joined: November 15th, 2016, 8:38 pm

Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by Alfie16 »

Hello gents, thank you. I think the problem is solved. There were two issues (1) that Gmail appeared to have 'stripped' my Thunderbird inbox of all its Netspace emails; and (2) any new emails arriving in Thunderbird would remain there for a short time only before being stripped as well.

The first issue was resolved by adding a Gmail account to Thunderbird. All the old emails (dating back seven months) that Gmail had removed from Thunderbird were now visible in Thunderbird but in the Gmail folder. They can (and will) be 'transferred' simply by dragging and and dropping them into the Thunderbird inbox after which I imagine I can safely remove the Gmail account and folder from Thunderbird. The second issue has been resolved by accessing Gmail settings and deleting my Netspace account. Goodbye to Gmail. Gmail is therefore no longer able to fetch email from the Netspace server and messages now remain in my Thunderbird inbox.

Hopefully that should do the job without any repercussions. Thank you for your advice.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by DanRaisch »

Glad to hear that things are now cleared up to your satisfaction.
Perhaps we are dealing with some lack of understanding about how email clients work.
Still, you continually refer to "the Thunderbird inbox" as if that is an email account (address) separate from the Gmail account that is now displayed in Thunderbird. As email client software, Thunderbird does not provide an email address/account of its own. It can only access emails from email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail/Outlook, or your Internet service provider. I'm still not clear on what action is actually being taken when you that messages "can (and will) be 'transferred".
Alfie16
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by Alfie16 »

That's my poor terminology. I think of the inbox as 'Thunderbird' having used Thunderbird forever. In fact the emails are held, of course, on the iiNet server. When I added a Gmail account to Thunderbird it meant that in addition to my existing iiNet folders on the Thunderbird screen, a set of Gmail account folders also became visible. Now, bearing in mind that when I gave Gmail access to my Iinet server (and, as your careless older brother, I didn't notice the 'keep mail on server' check box - wouldn't you think they'd keep it there by default?) Gmail removed all 2020 messages from the iiNet server. They were visible, in Thunderbird, but in my Gmail account inbox folder.

I've now copied and pasted all those 2020 messages from the Gmail folder to my normal non-Gmail Thunderbird inbox. That doesn't mean they're back on the iiNet server, so far as I know, but at least they're now where I always used to look for them in Thunderbird.

Now that I've deleted my iiNet account from Gmail, Gmail is no longer removing incoming mail from the iiNet server. My understanding is that my Thunderbird inbox now contains mail cut and pasted from Gmail (but not on the iiNet server) plus new email, on the iiNet server and not removed by Gmail.

Phew, apologies for being convoluted but I don't think I can explain it better. I do have limited knowledge about all this which is why I posted my question in the first place, so I won't be surprised if you respond and say, sorry mate, you've got it all wrong! I appreciate your patience and perseverance, by the way.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by DanRaisch »

No need to apologize. Not everyone has had reason (or need) to be familiar with the inner workings of their email setups.

Although it sounds as though things are now working as you want with the Gmail set up in Thunderbird, perhaps one last question will be worthwhile to help ensure that there will be no future issues of the sort you have just experienced. How is the new Gmail account set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? In Thunderbird the menu path to find that out is Tools->Account Settings->click on the Server Settings entry below the account name in the left hand pane->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
Alfie16
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by Alfie16 »

Here's the setup: 'imap.gmail.com', so yes, IMAP.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by DanRaisch »

OK, then as discussed before, the messages are primarily stored on the Gmail server and viewed in Thunderbird. What is done in Thunderbird (deletions or move to a different folder) will also happen on the server, and what is done on the Google web mail page will impact the messages in Thunderbird.

For future reference, you might also wish to be familiar with the information in this article -- Local Folders
Alfie16
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Joined: November 15th, 2016, 8:38 pm

Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by Alfie16 »

Thank you for that, you're helping clear away the fog! I'll read that article and hopefully get an even better grip on things. Meanwhile I'm wondering if there is now any point in retaining the Gmail account in Thunderbird?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Gmail has swallowed my emails!!

Post by DanRaisch »

Not knowing the details of your routine use of the accounts I would hesitate to offer counsel on that. Still, perhaps use things as they are for a week or so to ensure all is well before taking any additional actions.
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