How can I stop my Thunderbird Accounts from syncing with other devices -- other PCs and smartphone?
I try to remove excess files from a small PC and from a smartphone, to relieve storage problems. But, when I do so, they disappear from my main computer also, where i want to keep them. In my main computer email program, I have a number of folders which seem to be unaffected, but my inbox has been decimated inadvertently. I certainly did not want that to happen, and have been able to restore a small portion of the messages that were lost. But I don't want that to happen again, so I must remove the sync between the main computer and the small PC and smartphone. Most of the questions on your website concern syncing devices. Well, I want to unsync them, but don't know what settings to change that won't upset the whole email operation. I am running Windows 10 on the main computer, Windows 8.1 on the small PC, and Android on the LG4 smartphone.
On another issue, Bell Canada wants to change their servers in a couple of weeks, and are sending instructions to change Live Mail. Specifically, the want to use pophm.sympatico.ca, smtphm.sympatico.c, port 587 and SSL requirement for outgoing mail, and port 995 and SSL requirement for incoming mail. Do any of these settings affect Thunderbird; and if so, how do I change them.
Many thanks,
Don Hewson
All Replies (1)
On the face of it, you're asking in a Thunderbird forum how to configure some other email clients. If we were talking about Thunderbird then we could advise you to unsubscribe the unwanted folders. We can't tell you how to do this in assorted unspecified email clients. ;-)
IMAP is all about showing you, in an email client, what is on the server. Remove a message and it vanishes from every instance of that account on all of your devices.
So, if you want to leave messages on the server but not have them clogging up smaller devices, you need to find out how to control what your other clients download. Personally, my experience is that email clients on my android devices are quite canny and only download what is needed; new messages below a certain age, and other messages on demand. A regular email client tends not to have that sort of restraint. It tries to download all of the email accessible to it.
But unsubscribing from folders is only of value after messages have been moved into them.Up to that point, the messages will be in the Inbox and so visible to all three email clients.
If you want to go about it the other way, you could try to ration what is left on the server. With an IMAP-connected account, you could move messages you want to keep (but don't want on your smaller devices) to Thunderbird's Local Folders. This will save them on the computer that has Thunderbird, whilst removing them from circulation in your working account(s).
Your computer/small computer/phone do not sync to each other; they all sync to the email server. An email client that doesn't sync with its server is a waste of time, so I think your quest to stop synchronization is somewhat misguided and possibly futile.