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Where does Thunderbird store which emails it has already downloaded from the mail server

Kit
Kit
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Occasionally I copy my T-Bird profile from my PC to my lap-top so that I can see my emails as I travel. Sometimes when I do that and use the laptop T-Bird to get more mail from my POP3 server, it downloads a bunch of mail that I have already downloaded and were stored in the T-Bird files that I copied to my laptop. (Actually, sometimes I just backup up my PC profile and then restore it on the laptop.) How can I prevent T-Bird from downloading mails it has already downloaded?

Occasionally I copy my T-Bird profile from my PC to my lap-top so that I can see my emails as I travel. Sometimes when I do that and use the laptop T-Bird to get more mail from my POP3 server, it downloads a bunch of mail that I have already downloaded and were stored in the T-Bird files that I copied to my laptop. (Actually, sometimes I just backup up my PC profile and then restore it on the laptop.) How can I prevent T-Bird from downloading mails it has already downloaded?

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Chris Ilias
Chris Ilias
  • Moderator
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I think Thunderbird defaults to leaving messages on the POP server for 2 weeks. There's a setting for that, which you can disable.

  1. Right-click on the account name and select Settings.
  2. In the account settings window, select the Server Settings panel for that account.
  3. Uncheck Leave messages on server

Ultimately, I would recommend switching from POP to IMAP. This video explains the differences:

If you need help switching, this article should help: Switch from POP to IMAP account