Who, or what, is "resist kit"? I did try Google and they told me about dye fabrics and resistors. So that did not help at all. I would not ask but I think that might be critical here, as it sounds like someone promoting something that has nothing to do with either Thunderbird or Proton so they probably left out something important from the instructions.

Eventually I got to this https://realitycheck.radio/digitalid-au/ which to all intents and purposes is some sort of money making scheme stating the obvious with a good sized sprinkling of fear mongering from a couple of antivaxers. As they want my information to begin to share the very special information they have to offer I stopped at the front door to the website. But the Company behind it is NZ MEDIA HOLDINGS 2023 LIMITED details here https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429051146498

The company has two directors. Claire DEEKS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Deeks and Alia BLAND https://www.livingfreefestival.org/speakers-artists/alia-bland

So I guess you have to tell us what is is those instructions say to do so we can help you though the process but the following would be the normal approach. If you already have Thunderbird installed.

I suggest first that you ensure you have a paid account with Proton as Thunderbird and Proton do not interact without the Proton Bridge and that comes only with paid accounts.

1. Pay for an account with proton https://proton.me/mail/pricing
2. Switch your existing account/s to use Proton https://proton.me/easyswitch
3. Download the bridge https://proton.me/mail/download
4. Install the bridge
5. Set up your proton mail accounts with Thunderbird per the Proton instructions. https://proton.me/support/protonmail-bridge-clients-windows-thunderbird

Thank you Matt. Sorry to put you to those searches. Yes "The Digital ID Resist Kit" is put out by NZ Media but promoted by ACA Aligned Council of Australia because of the Australian introduction of the Under 16 Social Media Ban in Dec 2025. It should be easily available on the Internet. The instructions did not all follow as set out but mainly was helpful. 

I paid a 2 year subscription of A$306.96 on December 29 and went about transferring 3 Gmail accounts and 1 Hotmail account into the Thunderbird and its provider account Proton. 

As of this morning everything was in and coming into both the Thunderbird and Proton and under the names of 4 emails and seemed useful and easy to manage. Today the Thunderbird info has disappeared and I can only access the Proton account. One Gmail didn't seem to complete its transfer yesterday and I now I am on the merry-go-round of being asked by Microsoft to login and complete the their password to allow Proton to access their accounts.You mention "bridge" and I did try to download it but got the response Page not found and Not availala

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

Matt I couldn't finish that - but from looking promising yesterday a real problem now. Glenrae

It is not solved. Getting worse. No sign of the three Gmail emails and a fourth, a hotmail account cannot be verified for Proton as it relies on verification for the three Gmail emails now cancelled. I downloaded Thunderbird last week and my Gmail emails were downloaded to it and up until 3 days ago they were there and accessible. I was advised to create a Proton account as my provider which I did. No password was made available for Thunderbird but the one for Proton is [edited]@proton.me - I paid a 2 year subscription. Proton informed me by email my Account was paused. Since then I have no access to Thunderbird and my only other account [edited]@hotmail.com cannot be verified because the three Gmail accounts were its contacts and now are not available for confirmation. It is obvious I have made an error in doing this transfer, but it is imperative I have help as everything and everyone with whom I operate – bank, govt, insurance, etc etc – cannot contact me on the three Gmail accounts that are now closed. (I cannot find personal help from Proton .) and the other two email accounts transferred are [edited]@gmail.com and [edited]@gmail.com.

You mention "bridge" and I did try to download it but got the response Page not found and Not availala

I did fix the link for item no. 3 "Download the bridge" in Matt's to-do list above. So please try again. You won't be able to access your encrypted messages using Thunderbird without the Proton Bridge.

Proton informed me by email my Account was paused.

I have no experience with Proton, but I think you'll have to address this to Proton directly.

Since then I have no access to Thunderbird and my only other account [edited]@hotmail.com cannot be verified because the three Gmail accounts were its contacts and now are not available for confirmation.

You can still access your Hotmail, and Gmail accounts via webmail.

So grateful for your response Chris1. 1) I have just woken and shall download The Bridge. 2) I may have discovered a way to un-pause. I shall look next (just woken) but the usual emails have not come in as hoped. 3) Proton has answers for questions but only accepted ones and then it is an AI response. No direct access that I can find. 3) Thank you - I was not aware I could use webmail for this purpose. 4) I think there is a lot of sorting out I have to do with my contacts. You and Matt have been a great source of help.