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Attempting to configure Thunderbird to send mail only, and not delete emails on server

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swb_goldcab
swb_goldcab
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Hello, we use Thunderbird to automate the sending of emails from one of the programs we use as part of our shipping process. (PostaLink/Dazzle).

The computer used is old, and has a small capacity hard drive. The drive is starting to fill up, and we've found the culprit to be the fact that Thunderbird is downloading all of the email for the associated gmail account.

We do not read any incoming emails via Thunderbird, as we only use it for sending some emails out.

What is the best way to disable the syncing of accounts such that, when we delete emails that are currently in Thunderbird, they are not being deleted on the GMail server level as well?

It is currently sent for IMAP, but again, no emails need to be actually on this computer, we just need access to the SMTP side-of-things.

Thanks folks, I appreciate your time and effort. Let me know of any additional questions or concerns, and I will be sure to try and provide more details.

Hello, we use Thunderbird to automate the sending of emails from one of the programs we use as part of our shipping process. (PostaLink/Dazzle). The computer used is old, and has a small capacity hard drive. The drive is starting to fill up, and we've found the culprit to be the fact that Thunderbird is downloading all of the email for the associated gmail account. We do not read any incoming emails via Thunderbird, as we only use it for sending some emails out. What is the best way to disable the syncing of accounts such that, when we delete emails that are currently in Thunderbird, they are not being deleted on the GMail server level as well? It is currently sent for IMAP, but again, no emails need to be actually on this computer, we just need access to the SMTP side-of-things. Thanks folks, I appreciate your time and effort. Let me know of any additional questions or concerns, and I will be sure to try and provide more details.

All Replies (1)

Zenos
Zenos
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The first thing I would do is change the settings for download of email messages.

Right-click the account, select Properties, and under Synchronisation and Storage, un-tick the checkbox labelled Keep messages…on this computer.

Doing this will stop it downloading further messages, but it won't do anything about those already on your hard disk.

If you go to Tools|Account Settings, then select the gmail account and go to Server Settings, at the bottom is a text box labelled Local Directory. This shows you the location of the downloaded messages. You can now delete this folder named in this text box - do this using your file manager (Windows Explorer). I would advise that you close down Thunderbird before doing this deletion.

That change should be enough. However, you could also:

  • Right-click the account, select Subscribe and un-tick all the checkboxes.
  • Delete the IMAP account password so Thunderbird is no longer able to login. Go to Tools|Options|Security|Passwords→Saved Passwords and delete it there. Do not delete the SMTP password; you need this to be able to send.

I'm not too confident about this second one, because if your account is using OAuth2 (as recommended) Thunderbird doesn't store the actual passwords. I'd also expect some error messages and prompts when it finds it needs a password, though other users report that it will stop asking you for these.