search

thunderbird / import-export-tools-ng

Import Export Tools that supports Thunderbird v68-v128
Other
295 stars 31 forks source link

IMAP functionality unclear #210

Open pdolc opened 3 years ago

pdolc commented 3 years ago

1st Q: For large IMAP email accounts (50+GB), I generally uncheck "Keep messages in all folders for this account on this computer". However, when exporting (with structure) with Import-Export-Tools-NG, I am warned that "The local folder could not have all the messages present in remote folder". So presumably, the extension does not itself trigger a fetch of IMAP messages that have not been downloaded locally? Just confirming, as this was not what I initially expected. That means to get a full backup of the IMAP Account, one first needs to first check the "keep messages..." box and wait for all the messages to download, correct?

2nd Q: In that case, what is the difference between using Import-Export-Tools-NG's Export feature (with folders with structure) and just copying the relevant Imap Mail folder in the ~Library/Thunderbird/ImapMail directory?

(NB: System is MacOS with Thunderbird )

Also a big thanks for supporting this extension as well as thanks to the entire Thunderbird community! Everyone's work in keeping Thunderbird alive is much appreciated.

cleidigh commented 3 years ago

@pdolc Thanks !

I think the best approach is to set the keep messages, click Messages, then go off-line. do the export. I am not sure why the original developer did not give this as an option. one more thing I should do!

on your second question : the internal structure is comprised of both mbox files as well as index and subfolder entries. exporting just creates a mbox folder tree.
let me know that the export works okay/time? Christopher

pdolc commented 3 years ago

Hi Chris, Thanks for the reply! Can you confirm whether or not the extension first fetches data from IMAP if the local folder structure is not up to date, or if it just copies whatever is local regardless of sync status? I'm asking because I was discussing another issue with a Thunderbird Support Moderator and he said "If you use the import export tools, the server is checked to ensure the mail being exported is current according to the server."

cleidigh commented 3 years ago

no the extension does not make an explicit request