Changing the setting is not advised. If you want to switch from pop to imap, follow the procedure here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switch-pop-imap-account

POP and IMAP are very different. It is not about just changing a server setting. Create imap mail accounts separately as amanchesterman advises.

POP stores emails in your profile, which you should back up as it may be your only copy. POP only downloads from the server Inbox to your mail account Inbox. You can choose to keep copies on the server or not or delete only when you delete. Deleting does not necessarilly delete off server. You can view emails on offline mode.

IMAP sees a remote view of what is on the server. You subscribe to see folders. Folders are always synchronising to show what is on server. Headers are downloaded and when you select to read an email, it is retrieved and stored in a temporary cache to facilate viewing. Emails are not stored in Thunderbird.

Synchronising folders for offline use will get a copy into Thunderbird. Then you create a backup or move/copy emails to 'Local Folders' account if you need to get them off the server, but still need access to email.

If you delete in Thunderbird it will delete off server. If you delete via webmail, it will delete in Thunderbird. The folders are in effect one and the same.

If you have always used POP before, then you might find some aspects a little different.

Thanks I did that but now I have two accounts which are identical to each other except one (The ORIGINAL One) is set as a POP3, and the second (the NEW replacement one) is set up as IMAP as they have changed their setting etc.. I have copied everything over from the POP3 account to the new IMAP account and the new account sends and receives mail fine- -the original (1st) one will received mail BUT NOT SEND as they have changed the accouts,, OKAY THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS WE HAVE BEEN PLANNING A TRIP FOR OVER 6 MONTHS AND I HAVE ALL DETAILS EMAILS ETC ON FOLDERS WHICH I HAD IN THE LOCAL FOLDER SECTION,, I HAVE NOW COPIED ALL OF THEM IN THE ARCHIVED FOLDER UNDER THE NEW ACCOUNT.. SO YOU SEE AND UNDER STAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT I DO NOT LOSE THESE FOLDERS? ? ? so if I now delete the original account I assume that every emails sent/received/draft and specials foldes will be deleted? ? BUT I HOPE THEY WILL BE SAFE IN THE NEW PLACED LOCATION UNDER THE NEW ACCOUNT IN THE ARCHIVED FOLER????

PLEASE this is what I need to know now,,, or if not how can I copy and keep these folders and emails someplace else as they contain our air tickets hotel bookings EVERYTHING ! !

Thanks very much

Dennis

amanchesterman"

It is not that I want to change BUT THAT my provider has changed their server and settings so we have no choice in the matter;

Thanks I did that but now I have two accounts which are identical to each other except one (The ORIGINAL One) is set as a POP3, and the second (the NEW replacement one) is set up as IMAP as they have changed their setting etc.. I have copied everything over from the POP3 account to the new IMAP account and the new account sends and receives mail fine- -the original (1st) one will received mail BUT NOT SEND as they have changed the accouts,, OKAY THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS WE HAVE BEEN PLANNING A TRIP FOR OVER 6 MONTHS AND I HAVE ALL DETAILS EMAILS ETC ON FOLDERS WHICH I HAD IN THE LOCAL FOLDER SECTION,, I HAVE NOW COPIED ALL OF THEM IN THE ARCHIVED FOLDER UNDER THE NEW ACCOUNT.. SO YOU SEE AND UNDER STAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT I DO NOT LOSE THESE FOLDERS? ? ? so if I now delete the original account I assume that every emails sent/received/draft and specials foldes will be deleted? ? BUT I HOPE THEY WILL BE SAFE IN THE NEW PLACED LOCATION UNDER THE NEW ACCOUNT IN THE ARCHIVED FOLER????

PLEASE this is what I need to know now,,, or if not how can I copy and keep these folders and emails someplace else as they contain our air tickets hotel bookings EVERYTHING ! !

Thanks very much

Dennis

Hi Dennis yes I understand your situation and the importance of preserving those emails. I suggest three steps: you don't need to do all of them, but I'm a belt-and-braces person, so the more you do the more reassurance you will have. 1) Make a backup copy of your whole Thunderbird profile to external storage -- an external hard drive or a plug-in memory stick. If you don't know about your profile the information you need is here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb The profile contains all your emails, all your settings, all your accounts, so if your computer breaks down or is stolen you can restore everything to a new installation of Thunderbird. Personally I back up the profile once a week as a routine. 2) You can download and install a Thunderbird add-on called ImportExportTools. This will allow you to create copies of emails and folders in a variety of formats. I believe that one format is PDF, which is easily read and printed on a wide range of computers even if you are away from home. 3) Within Thunderbird you can save individual emails as separate files. Simply open a message and right-click on it, choose 'save as'. You could do that with the most important emails at least. I hope this gives you peace of mind and I hope that the trip is a great success!

> POP and IMAP are very different. It is not about just changing a server setting.

FWIW actually Thunderbird doesn't offer the ability to do it - it is not available in the UI. But the procedures previously stated are good