If downloading just the last month's messages is a deal-breaker, then you'd better look for another email client. As far as I know, this isn't a feature supported by either POP or IMAP, but I guess that there may be an email client somewhere that contrives to offer this. It probably does it by downloading headers, examining dates then fetching bodies only for messages that fall with a certain age range.

Google POP does something like this with its "recent" capability: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7104828?hl=en But it appears this means "from now on", and doesn't' offer a limited backdate.

Personally, I'd want to take control of my mail. I wouldn't let old messages languish in the Inbox. I'd file them into folders and not subscribe to those folders in Thunderbird. However I don't see the point of having invisible email, so I wouldn't actually want to use such an arrangement.

Oh, I have around 8 email accounts set up here in Thunderbird. Three is no problem.

I have 8k emails on gmail server back from 2011, why would anyone want to bring them all to a new computer??? one with a ssd drive that is not as large as a normal hard drive. IT should be easy. Download all messages or download messages until ...blank....date.

If you choose to keep them, then why would you not want to be able to read them?

The original POP specification for email had no concept for leaving anything on a server. The assumption was that with disk space being expensive you'd have only a modest allocation and so your email client would regularly collect and delete ALL the messages in the mailbox on the server, transferring them to the client.

IMAP turns this on its head and assumes you store everything on the server and nothing locally. But it allows you to see everything on the server.

So your half-and-half selective download just isn't a scenario that was allowed for in either specification. In short, you're asking email to do something it wasn't designed for.

The answer is to move the older messages you don't want to see in Thunderbird into another folder. POP won't show or download from anywhere but the Inbox, so that retains your messages on the server but hides them from the client. IMAP allows you to selectively pick which folders it synchronises. Either way, it comes down to you properly organising your email.

I hope you do not have all the emails going back to 2011 in your inbox!

If you have the right set of steps you can set Thunderbird to not synchronize (download) the bodies of certain (or all) folders. That will save a lot of disk sapce. You can also set certain folders to not be subscribed, and Thunderbird won't show them at all. But beyond that, the imap model is generally to show you everything.

Yes i have all those emails on the gmail server but I do NOT want to download them all. So let me ask it this way, how can I delete all my gmail from the server without it taking me 3 days haha. If I get them off the server then makes no difference if Tbird cant handle it.

Zenos, if you want to respond with the info I asked that would be great. Dont need no queen bee telling me how to manage my email. " MERICA and all......

bmbid1 said

Zenos, if you want to respond with the info I asked that would be great. Dont need no queen bee telling me how to manage my email. " MERICA and all......

This is the international support forum for Thunderbird. There is no place here for nationalistic slogans or comments. I find it simply rude and inappropriate.

Clearly you are not familiar with the details of the IMAP and POP protocols or you would not have asked the question you did. You have been offered constructive advise by volunteers to suggest how you can manage your email to achieve a similar outcome to that which you proposed. If you choose to ignore that advice it is up to you. It is not up to you to decide what advice is offered.

Clearly what you want is not in the capabilities of Thunderbird, so I will consider this topic closed as your original question has been answered.

haha Its international so I cant say America....riiight. And yes MATT, I AM NOT FAMILIAR with imap protocols so this is why I asked the question. Try cognitive reasoning to avoid posting the obvious. Furthermore, it seems you are OK with Zeno publicly bashing me for not doing my email like she does, and you think thats fine, but I cant respond? Stop it. If you are all that why dont ya find a way for tbird to download messages you want in a simpler way by the date of the email. BTW, your info says...MattAuSupport....what does AU stand for again.....No place for that Matt.

There was no bashing here by zenos. You need to move on. (locking topic)