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Update activated "Delete messages more than 30 days old" in Thunderbird

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  • Last reply by Ed

Ed
Ed
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In recent weeks, the auto update in my Thunderbird appears to have changed the message retention properties from "Never" to 30 days, resulting in a loss of most of my emails over 30 days old. Q1: Can my older e-mails be recovered? Q2: How to prevent this in future? Thanks for any help. Ed

In recent weeks, the auto update in my Thunderbird appears to have changed the message retention properties from "Never" to 30 days, resulting in a loss of most of my emails over 30 days old. Q1: Can my older e-mails be recovered? Q2: How to prevent this in future? Thanks for any help. Ed

All Replies (2)

Matt
Matt
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did you go to the settings and find it that way, or are the messages just gone? Usually if they are just gone it is an imap account and the server retention policy over rides and old mail is removed based on the server settings.

I have a number of IMAP and POP accounts and am using 78.6 none of my accounts suddenly had their retention settings changed.

Ed
Ed Question owner
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Thank you, Matt. My affected account is a POP account in which all e-mails are stored in my PC running WIN 10, and the files on the server are wiped after download. It has been that way for years, with files in some folders going back 10+ years. The files were moved to my new computer about a year ago at which time the dealer installed Thunderbird and all folder properties were set to "Don't delete ...". I am assuming that a software update switched the "Retention Property" but that is an assumption. To lose several years of e-mails certainly is distressing.

The missing e-mails are not in the Junk or Trash Folders. Any chance they can be recovered?