Misleading design puts Local Folders data at HIGH Risk
Scary behavior of 'Local Folders': I'm moving an IMAP account from one server to an other. I copy all emails from old server IMAP account to a place described as "Local Folders". I then delete the account connected to the old server. WTF: the the local folders to which I copied the messages are now GONE. My plan was to recreate the account to the new server, then copy messages from LocalFolders to IMAP. But the LocalFolders got deleted along with the IMAP account. This I was doing in a separate profile from my own, as it's for a friend I'm helping with a hosting move.
In my own profile: For more than a decade, I have been maintaining the size of my mailboxes, by moving older messages to LocalFolders. As it happens, for these, I did indeed direct the folder to a separate drive, which also gets backed up offsite. My concern is that 'Local Folders' are portrayed as being INDEPENDENT of IMAP accounts. This is VERY POOR design, to allow a user to delete data they thought was safely stored locally while they recreate a moved or misbehaving account. I have dozens of Local Folders. Five years ago, I abandoned an entire domain name and it's email accounts. I know I still have those emails in my local folders despite having deleted the IMAP accounts from my profile. I fear that the current version, by default, might not be so respectful of my data. Can someone please explain? Where are the links that TIE an IMAP account to Local Folders, and how do I sever that link?
In my case, the source account still exists. I can repeat my steps, but for some other unfortunate users, this may not be the case.
ప్రత్యుత్తరాలన్నీ (3)
IMAP accounts act as IMAP accounts, regardless of the email client. To put IMAP messages on PC and then delete from server,, you must COPY them to local folders to remove their association with the account. And then delete; it is a two-step process. Local Folders are, indeed, independent, but in moving, you do not disconnect from server.
Exactly what I did. 'Cept I have not deleted them from server, 'cause, entire old server will soon be deleted... and good thing, 'cause I just had to recreate the IMAP account to the older server... and when I did, the Local Folders for that account re-appeared in the interface. Perhaps the folders were only removed from the UI.
2nd try: Recreated account to old server. Copied .thunderbird/profile/mail/localfolders to a location outside .thunderbird. Edited LocalFolders location, restart Thunderbird. Make sure all messages copied to LocalFolders. Delete IMAP account (and delete messages). THIS worked as expected: the local folders are still there.
My point is that the default behavior, if not dangerous, is certainly scary, as the messages are gone after Deleting IMAP & Data, because my view is that Delete IMAP-Account & DATA should ONLY effect the IMAP Account.
Perhaps there should NOT be a default location for Local Folders. That is, either force user to select a location during profile setup (along with warning about placing it in profile folder), or same, but upon first use.
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