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Force download of all emails from gmail server

I-Thunderbird Send and receive email
George Kitsoukakis replied
antaresbda
antaresbda

I accidentally deleted a good number of my emails from my local Pop3 server account. I don't delete my emails from my gmail server so I can just redownload all my emails but cannot remember the prefix needed to do it.

If I recall correctly I go under settings for my email account, then go to server settings and add the prefix to my email shown in the Username field under the Pop Mail Server Section.

Can anyone remind me of the prefix?

It was like restore:[my email] or all:[my email].

I should have made a note of it as I cannot find it anywhere online now.

I accidentally deleted a good number of my emails from my local Pop3 server account. I don't delete my emails from my gmail server so I can just redownload all my emails but cannot remember the prefix needed to do it. If I recall correctly I go under settings for my email account, then go to server settings and add the prefix to my email shown in the Username field under the Pop Mail Server Section. Can anyone remind me of the prefix? It was like restore:[my email] or all:[my email]. I should have made a note of it as I cannot find it anywhere online now.

All Replies (3)

George Kitsoukakis
George Kitsoukakis
  • Top 25 Contributor
  • Moderator

The prefix you are looking for is "recent:"

1. Check/Enable POP for all mail in Gmail (Web Browser)

  • Log into your Gmail account via a web browser and go to Settings > See all settings.
  • Click on the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
  • In the "POP download" section, select: 1. Status: Enable POP for all mail (even mail that's already been downloaded).
  • Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

2. Check/Update Thunderbird Settings

  • Open Thunderbird and go to Account Settings.
  • Under your Gmail account, click on Server Settings.
  • In the User Name field, add the recent: prefix before your email address.
  • Example recent:yourusername@gmail.com
  • Click OK and then click Get Messages.

See more info Google Support Article.

antaresbda
antaresbda Umnini wombuzo

Thank you for this! I had forgotten the first steps that needed to be done to gmail. Does the "recent:" not restrict it to just the last month?

I got more to come down by removing the "recent:", but still not all the mail, but then I noticed in the gmail browser that it says "We are working on processing your previous POP update. You will be able to edit POP again when this finishes." so maybe I tried the download to soon? I need to wait until gmail does its thing?

Thanks again for your quick response this morning!

George Kitsoukakis
George Kitsoukakis
  • Top 25 Contributor
  • Moderator

Yes, the recent: prefix restricts the download to only the last 30 days. I thought that by using it first and then switching the setting, it would fetch everything.

However, since you already removed the prefix, just wait for Gmail to finish. Once that message disappears, check that 'Enable POP for all mail' is still selected, save again if needed, and try to download your messages.

If you run into any other issues or have more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Buza umbuzo

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