Change to POP3 to avoid Deleting Emails?

[#1]

Hello, I am having to delete emails regularly in order to avoid them being removed and archived by plusnet.  I do like to keep my emails for future reference, so would I be better changing my account back to POP3 rather than IMAP, as I don`t need to be able to view emails on other devices?

Many Thanks,

Chris    

[#2]

Hi Chris, if you're happy to have your emails stored locally on just one device, yep I'd go ahead with setting your emails up as POP3. Obviously this will mean the messages won't be stored on our server so it may be a good idea to keep a backup of them (if you don't already)

Let us know if you've got any further queries.

[#3]

Hello Anoush,  Thanks for your prompt reply. Is there a section that you can point me too for backing up emails?  I've never done that before, so I would be interested to learn how to do it.

Many Thanks,

Chris

[#4]

Hi @Mgnl1983 

If you use Outlook or similar, click file then open/export and export all to where you want to back them up to fairly easy to follow but come back if you need more help.

[#5]

Hi Chris, I don't think we've got any 'official' support documentation for help in backing up emails, but what's the name of the mail program you're using?

[#6]

Hello Anoush,  I think it will be very difficult for me to back up my emails as I am only using the basic web client that came with windows 8.   If I was using Outlook then I understand it would be much easier.

Thanks for your kind assistance anyway.

Kind Regards,

Chris  

[#7 · Accepted solution]

Hi Chris,

You can download the Thunderbird client (it's free), then download 'Backup Thunderbird'. TB can be configured as a POP3 client and it's slicker than Outlook.

Cheers,

David

[#8]

Thanks David, I've heard of Thunderbird but never given it a try, but I think I will give that a go.  It would certainly be better than having to delete emails frequently or worry about them being archived.

Many Thanks,

Chris

[#9]

Hello Anoush, I think I might have been a bit hasty by clicking 'Problem Solved'.

I have changed my email settings to mail.free-online.net, but the emails still appear to remain on your server.

I have clicked on the Inbox folder in webmail and found that it shows 193 MB in the Inbox.  Any Suggestions ?

Also, I have 4 Emails which have been stuck in Deleted Items / Trash for many years and I cannot delete them.  Webmail says that they are occupying 16 MB, but I my email client shows that they are probably more like 50 Kb.  Can these be deleted from your side?

Last question,  I tried downloading Thunderbird as advised by another member.  It states that it is free, but when I try to download it, it asks for a donation, and there doesn`t seem anyway of getting past that page.  Has anybody else experienced the same issue?

[#10]

Hi Chris,

Just had a look at https://www.thunderbird.net/en-GB/ and on my PC the download starts before the 'donation' page appears, so you can still download the executable file. It is free it's only suggesting a donation. I use Firefix, other browsers handle downloads differently, Chrome's download appears in the bottom left.

Message back if you are still having trouble.

Thanks,

David

[#11]

Thanks David, I will give it another go 🐵

[#12]

Hi Chris, to change an email account from IMAP to POP you'll need to remove your email account from your mail program (not from your account with us on our website) and then re-set it up as POP. As you go through the setup, there's normally options to automatically delete mail from the server after x number of days. 

With regards to your trash folder in webmail, if you right click on Deleted Items, do you get an option to empty the folder?

Let us know how it goes or if you've already tried the above.

Cheers -Anoush

[#13]

If you access email on more than one client you may encounter issues using POP3.

Using IMAP there is nothing preventing you moving emails to local folders as and when it suits you. The claim that one email client is ‘slicker’ than another is somewhat subjective. It depends what you want out of them. Outlook provides a good email client integrated with a calendar and contacts ... which when set up smartly can fully sync the same data on a smart phone and a tablet.

[#14]

Morning Chris,

Did you have any joy downloading Thunderbird?

Cheers David

[#15]

For the application in this case where the user justs needs a basic POP3/IMAP client Thunderbird is the 'slicker' solution. No calendaring etc is required. Backing up Thunderbird with a third party freeware solution is easy. I've never found backing-up Outlook very intuitive especially when it's running as stand alone install (i.e.no Exchange integration).  I use both, Office 365 suite for work and Thunderbird for my personal mail. I wasn't comparing and contrasting or reviewing the 2 programs just advising in the case here.