I would like to use a Yearly Archived Folder but the Archive Options in Account Settings is not active and cannot be selected, how can I make it active?
I am using Thunderbird 60.4.0 & Windows 10. This feature did work and suddenly stopped working on earlier version of Thunderbird. I was hoping that the latest version would solve the problem! Is there a setting that I have inadvertently changed?
Chosen solution
Gmail stores all emails in 'All Mail' folder. That is everything received, sent or archived.
Archived can also mean removing all labels, so you can in effect delete an email from eg: Inbox and if it is not actually put into the gmail server 'Trash/Bin' folder, then only the label is removed and the email is archived in the 'All Mail' folder. This could mean that emails you deleted whilst setup to use Pop mail account could still be in the 'All Mail' folder using up your quota.
If you tell imap gmail account to Archive an email then gmail automatically removes all labels and stores in 'All Mail'. So, any emails you archived whilst using imap setup will be in 'All Mail' folder.
This explains why the 'Archive options' button is not working for you. Note: Note that the 'Archive options'... button is disabled for Gmail accounts, as it is not necessary to define the archive granularity with Gmail.
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The option is still there in Tools/Account Settings under Copies & Folders for each account (see picture).
sfhowes said
The option is still there in Tools/Account Settings under Copies & Folders for each account (see picture).
The option is shown but is not active, ie when you click on it nothing happens.
You set up the Archive options as sfhowes advised. This does not immediately show anything, but when you next select emails and click on 'Archive' button, it should create the 'Archives' folder and subfolders as per chosen selection options.
Are you using a POP or IMAP mail account ? If imap is it a gmail account? If not gmail what is the server called ?
Do you want archived emails to be stored within the pop mail account or perhaps in 'Local Folders' mail account?
Toad-Hall said
You set up the Archive options as sfhowes advised. This does not immediately show anything, but when you next select emails and click on 'Archive' button, it should create the 'Archives' folder and subfolders as per chosen selection options. Are you using a POP or IMAP mail account ? If imap is it a gmail account? If not gmail what is the server called ? Do you want archived emails to be stored within the pop mail account or perhaps in 'Local Folders' mail account?
The Archive Folder was created when I started to use Thunderbird, as were subfolders for 2017 & 2018. When I clicked "Archive", the email was automatically put in the year subfolder. This was setup by using the "Archive Button" options, but as I keep repeating, during 2018 the "Archive Button" became inactive and I can not see the monthly or yearly options. Under Account Settings/Copies & Folders, at present I have the "Keep message archives in: "Archives" Folder on my gmail address. I changed to IMAP during 2018 and I am aware that someone else experienced this problem after changing to IMAP. As there are 5 different gmail addresses on this PC, I would prefer the Archives with the appropriate IMAP gmail rather than Local Folders. Basically I would like to get back to the same Archive operation that I had when I changed to Thunderbird, ie when I click "Archive", the email will automatically be put in the year subfolder. Is this possible with gmail IMAP accounts?
re :during 2018 the "Archive Button" became inactive....... I changed to IMAP during 2018 This is a vital piece of imformation.
Assuming that the original set up was for a gmail pop mail account. Therefore the 'Archives' folder was on your computer in the pop mail account and not on the server.
Then you created a brand new existing mail account for the gmail email address but this time set it up as an imap mail account. This being the current setup.
Q What did you do with the original pop mail account? Q Is it still available; listed in left Folder Pane? Q Did you move or copy all the folders and emails from pop account into the 'Local Folders' mail account, so that the original pop 'Archives' folder is now visible in the 'Local folders' mail account and then delete/remove the pop mail account?
knockmoyle said
sfhowes saidThe option is still there in Tools/Account Settings under Copies & Folders for each account (see picture).The option is shown but is not active, ie when you click on it nothing happens.
For gmail IMAP accounts, you are correct in that the Archive Options button is not available if the Archives folder is set on the IMAP server. It's only active if Archives is set to Local Folders. I suppose this is due to gmail's implementation of the IMAP standard. You can still create an IMAP Archives folder with yearly subfolders, but you would have to manually move messages to those subfolders. Otherwise, pressing the A key will simply move messages to the Archives root folder.
Chosen Solution
Gmail stores all emails in 'All Mail' folder. That is everything received, sent or archived.
Archived can also mean removing all labels, so you can in effect delete an email from eg: Inbox and if it is not actually put into the gmail server 'Trash/Bin' folder, then only the label is removed and the email is archived in the 'All Mail' folder. This could mean that emails you deleted whilst setup to use Pop mail account could still be in the 'All Mail' folder using up your quota.
If you tell imap gmail account to Archive an email then gmail automatically removes all labels and stores in 'All Mail'. So, any emails you archived whilst using imap setup will be in 'All Mail' folder.
This explains why the 'Archive options' button is not working for you. Note: Note that the 'Archive options'... button is disabled for Gmail accounts, as it is not necessary to define the archive granularity with Gmail.
Many thanks for your response and the link to support. I think you have now explained what I had discovered by trial and error is the correct operation even though it was not what I expected. I followed this link when switching from POP to IMAP. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-pop-imap-account Unfortunately this procedure does not highlight the archiving differences, hence I did not look any further and assumed (always dangerous!) archiving procedures would be identical in IMAP as I had experienced in POP!