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Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders'

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  • Last reply by sfhowes

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There is (apparently) no Thunderbird _Help_Article_ about the key difference(s) between = Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders' = I think there should be one.

I did a web search on = Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders' = and the most useful article I found was:

How Do I Make a Folder in Gmail? Folders Vs. Labels By Tom Buford - Published On: October 5, 2021 (https://thetechiesenior.com/how-do-i-make-a-folder-in-gmail-folders-vs-labels/)

... in which he makes this critically important point (for me):

"This is very important: Emails can have several labels attached to them. You can remove any of those labels from an email without deleting the email itself which is stored under All Mail. But if you delete an email under any label, because there is actually only one copy of that email in Gmail, it will be removed from all labels, All Mail and then sent to the Trash."

Should I post this inquiry on Bugzilla as an enhancement request?

[ I have a friend whose ancient 'traditional' email provider is going out of business and he is considering switching to Gmail (using Tbird for the transition, and perhaps long-term access). And I want to be sure he understands the point Tom Buford made in his article above. ]

      • ALL NEW Thunderbird USERS should be advised about the key difference(s) between = Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders' = (IMO)
There is (apparently) no Thunderbird _Help_Article_ about the key difference(s) between = Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders' = I think there should be one. I did a web search on = Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders' = and the most useful article I found was: '''How Do I Make a Folder in Gmail? Folders Vs. Labels''' By Tom Buford - Published On: October 5, 2021 (https://thetechiesenior.com/how-do-i-make-a-folder-in-gmail-folders-vs-labels/) ... in which he makes this critically important point (for me): "This is very important: Emails can have several labels attached to them. You can remove any of those labels from an email without deleting the email itself which is stored under All Mail. But if you delete an email under any label, because there is actually only one copy of that email in Gmail, it will be removed from all labels, All Mail and then sent to the Trash." Should I post this inquiry on Bugzilla as an enhancement request? [ I have a friend whose ancient 'traditional' email provider is going out of business and he is considering switching to Gmail (using Tbird for the transition, and perhaps long-term access). And I want to be sure he understands the point Tom Buford made in his article above. ] *** ALL NEW Thunderbird USERS should be advised about the key difference(s) between = Gmail 'labels' vs Thunderbird 'folders' = (IMO)

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That is why gmail recommends that in TB 'Just mark it as deleted' is selected for 'When I delete a message' in Account Settings, Server Settings.

Labels are explained here: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_Gmail_with_Thunderbird_and_Mozilla_Suite (cached version)

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-gmail