Use COPY, not MOVE. Then, highlight the copied messages and delete.

Thanks for the quick reply. I will assume that you are correct, even though for over 30 years, until now, I have been using 'move' with no problems. But what about all the emails I deleted, they are back also. Was there a problem with the latest update to Thunderbird, or did it make changes to the procedures that must be used that I was unaware of?

I am not an IMAP guru, and a review would require detailed steps. No, thunderbird has not changed how IMAP is handled. All I know is that the steps I mentioned have been successful for capturing messages from an iMAP account to local folders and then removing from the server. Others may see this thread and have more in-depth feedback.

May I ask why you chose this two-step method instead of the 'move to' method? As I said, I have used the 'move to' method for over 30 years, with no problem until now. I'm an old fart (retired from the Air Force 37 years ago) and make no claims to being an expert on this or anything else, but to me this would seem to indicate that something has changed within the program. This is a disaster for me. I now have over 6,000 supposedly moved or deleted emails mixed throughout my inbox. And as I mentioned they are all grayed out like I had read them. But I cannot just attempt to delete all the greyed-out messages (assuming that somebody can shed some light on why my 'deleted' emails also came back) because there are also a good number of emails that I have read but did not attempt to move or delete them. I would not want to arbitrarily delete them also. I hope this is making sense. Please bear with me, I am battling the early stages of dementia (three active brain cells, and one of them is on life support)

First, I encourage you to log onto your online account to see what is there. Second, I respond to questions on what will WORK. I am not the person to explain WHY something works or doesn't. What I will do is see if I can locate someone with more IMAP expertise. What I recommend is to list, in detail, your steps. You refer to messages being moved and deleted (two separate results) and also to ALL being restored. A detail list of the steps, clarifying what you did, may prove helpful. Thank you.