re :Thunderbird didn't have proper access to my gmail anymore for some reason,

What was the original problem?

You mention 'no inputbox for password '. Did you get an error that requested a password? Passwords are not in the Account Settings. All passwords are changed via webmail accounts, then the updated password is entered in Thunderbird for storage. Menu icon > Options > Security > 'Passwords' tab click on 'Saved Passwords' button click on 'Show passwords' button Right click on each relevant line and select 'Edit Password' Enter password and click on 'Close' Click on 'OK'

re : so I removed and readded the account. What did Thunderbird do? It deleted ALL of my emails.....EVERYTHING I had was deleted in a second If you remove an account what did you expect to happen? Surely, you expected the account to be removed.

What type of account did you originally have? Was it a POP mail account? Gmail are a pain when it comes to pop accounts and have a habit of not allowing access every once in a while. It is usually resolved by logging on to the webmail account via a browser and checking that the 'less secure apps' option is selected.

If you originally had a POP mail account then it is highly likely that all the account info is still lurking in the profile name folder. You can force the new pop gmail account to hook up and use the old gmail pop mail account.

If you have created a new POP mail account, then move all new emails into 'Local Folders' mail account (you can move them back later) and then do this:

• Right click on new pop mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings'
• Select 'Server Settings'
• Bottom right, look for 'Local directory:'
• click on 'Browse'

• A new window will open on the current new pop mail account name located in the 'Mail' folder.
• select the 'Mail' folder to see all of its contents.
• Then select the original gmail pop mail account name folder.
• click on 'Select folder' button

Click on 'OK' Restart Thunderbird.

Thanks for your time, that actually solved it!

I'm not sure why it acted up. Seems access from gmail's side changed.

My first impulse when editing something doesn't work is to remove and readd it. I think I must've done this several times in Outlook Express and never once did it go and delete my emails and even my message rules. I still have all my mail back to 2000. I think it's a serious design flaw that there isn't even a warning about that. Also surprising that changing the phyisical storage location results in my message rules being resurrected - I never would have guessed that. All in all not very intuitive but your solution worked perfectly. Thanks!