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I switched email servers and when I synced to the new server, all my old emails erased... HELP

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  • Last reply by christ1

I previously had 1&1.com hosting my email addresses (marcus@durbinconcrete.com & admin@durbinconcrete.com) and I recently switched to Weebly/Gmail to host these email addresses...

I enabled IMAP forwarding in gmail (which in hinesight I think I should have selected POP) and when I updated my server settings in Thunderbird - all of my old emails disappeared. Theses emails are for business and I may have dramatically hurt our business by doing this.

Are emails backed up anywhere where I can restore from? I do have the option selected to store all emails on my local computer - please help :)

I previously had 1&1.com hosting my email addresses (marcus@durbinconcrete.com & admin@durbinconcrete.com) and I recently switched to Weebly/Gmail to host these email addresses... I enabled IMAP forwarding in gmail (which in hinesight I think I should have selected POP) and when I updated my server settings in Thunderbird - all of my old emails disappeared. Theses emails are for business and I may have dramatically hurt our business by doing this. Are emails backed up anywhere where I can restore from? I do have the option selected to store all emails on my local computer - please help :)

Chosen solution

With IMAP all mail is managed on the server. By simply changing the server of an existing account you virtually start from scratch. I.e. the new server knows nothing about the mail on the old server.
What you see in Thunderbird is basically a mirror of what's on the server.

What you should have done is moving messages off of the old server to your Local Folders account.
Alternatively you could have created a new account with the same email address on the new server.

The Thunderbird IMAP synchronization option basically is a local offline copy of what's on the server. The offline copy got wiped out when you connected to the new server. It isn't an equivalent for a proper backup of your messages.

I don't know if you still have access to the old server. If not, then you can only restore a backup of your profile folder, assuming you've created one at some point.

It is grossly negligent not to backup your business email.
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Chosen Solution

With IMAP all mail is managed on the server. By simply changing the server of an existing account you virtually start from scratch. I.e. the new server knows nothing about the mail on the old server.
What you see in Thunderbird is basically a mirror of what's on the server.

What you should have done is moving messages off of the old server to your Local Folders account.
Alternatively you could have created a new account with the same email address on the new server.

The Thunderbird IMAP synchronization option basically is a local offline copy of what's on the server. The offline copy got wiped out when you connected to the new server. It isn't an equivalent for a proper backup of your messages.

I don't know if you still have access to the old server. If not, then you can only restore a backup of your profile folder, assuming you've created one at some point.

It is grossly negligent not to backup your business email.