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If I delete an email account do I delete my saved emails?

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  • 15 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Zenos

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I want to delete an old email account but I have many folders of saved emails. I want to move these to my current email account (another issue) but I am afraid if I delete the old account I will lose these emails. I have tried to find the answer thru the help sections but either I am too dumb or I am not asking the right question. It should be an easy fix...

I want to delete an old email account but I have many folders of saved emails. I want to move these to my current email account (another issue) but I am afraid if I delete the old account I will lose these emails. I have tried to find the answer thru the help sections but either I am too dumb or I am not asking the right question. It should be an easy fix...

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The simple answer is yes, if you delete an email account you will lose the messages in it. For starters, the account and its folders disappear from sight when it's deleted.

Move anything you want to keep into Thunderbird's Local Folders account. It's tedious, but I'd advise you to move messages rather than folders. There have been reports that appear to indicate that a folder can be moved, yet retain its logical link to the original account, so is not safeguarded. Create a new folder under Local Folders, then move or copy the messages into it. Select All, right-click, Move To is more reliable than big drag-and-drop operations.