how can i download AT&T webmail including local foldersto a free desktop client like thunderbird?

Question

I have been using AT&T webmail for 17 years and want to transfer all email folders including local folders to a desktop client.  I don't want to have to transfer all my local folders to inbox first and then create identical folders all over again for my desktop.  Can I just download these folders and their contents just as they are?  Thunderbird says I must first move local folder contents to inbox then download and then set up new folders on my desktop client.  Is there another email client that I can use that will download my ATT webmail local folders as they are without having to put them in inbox first?

_xyzzy_ · Accepted Answer

I don't think it's possible. The yahoo webmail only understands how to send email to an email client from its inbox.

If you want to keep the same mailbox/folder organization in your client you would still have to create all those mailboxes in that client. To make such a move as safe as possible against mistakes (I'm paranoid) I would probably move each folder one at a time doing the following procedure. Note, this assumes you flagged your client to not delete email from the server. I'm also making this up as I am typing this but hopefully there are no bugs.

Use the webmail's move operation to move all the contents of a mailbox to the inbox.
Create the mailbox/folder in the email client.
Create the filters needed to move that kind of mail to the client mailbox created in 2.
Tell client to get new mail. If the filters are correct all the email from webmail inbox should be read and moved into your client's appropriate mailbox created in 2.
If happy that everything is correct then you can empty the webmail's inbox. If something's not right (filter not working?) you have a chance to repeat the move after emptying the client mailbox since the stuff is still in the webmail inbox. This is why I said to set the client to not delete read mail.
Repeat above for each webmail mailbox.

I don't know how many mailboxes you have. But if I were doing a total en masse transfer of all my email from the server to my computer under the given the yahoo webmail restrictions I would want to do it as safely as possible to not risk loosing anything. But as I said, I'm paranoid and that's just me.

By the way, FWIW, I use TB too.

drose977 · Answer

Thanks Guru, that's what I was afraid of.  You have confirmed for me that the issue is on the webmail side so what I use for the client side is irrelevant. I have 29 folders that contain 9344 total emails so this is going to be a painful time consuming task. If someone would write a program to do a transfer by folder they could make a lot of money.  I for one would pay $100 for such a program. Seems you're happy with free Thunderbird so I'll stick with it.  Thanks again for all your help!

lem3 · Answer

I'm not sure what you mean by 'local folder' when your mail is currently all on the ATT/Yahoo server. But this is what I'd do:Create a new IMAP account on TB. Use settings: IMAP Server (all domains)SMTP Server (all domains)IMAP User ID (Full e-mail address)imap.mail.yahoo.comsmtp.mail.yahoo.comMemberID@(customer's domain)Incoming mail server type: IMAPOutgoing mail server: Outgoing server (SMTP) requires authenticationIncoming mail port #: 993 for IMAP; secure connection (SSL) checkedOutgoing mail port #: 465; secure connection (SSL) checked When you first login, your complete webmail folder structure will be re-created in the client. In relative terms, 9300 emails is not a very large number.  Depending on the speed of your internet connection I'd guess 10-20 minutes. Note IMAP and POP3 operate very differently, IMAP is much better in a world where people need to access their email on multiple devices.  A brief explanation:www.godaddy.com/help/what-is-the-difference-between-pop-and-imap-19318

_xyzzy_ · Answer

I'm not sure what you mean by 'local folder' when your mail is currently all on the ATT/Yahoo serverI took it to assume he didn't want to use IMAP and wanted all his email folders currently in the webmail downloaded into corresponding TB mailboxes on his system, i.e., for using POP, and thus saved in his profile.  But your idea is a lot easier if he wants to use IMAP. I never use IMAP because I don't need it and never have.  Because of that I was unaware that the first time you access the server after you've set up the IMAP account the same mailbox structure on the server would be automatically created locally in the TB account.  I thought each mailbox would have to be explicitly created in TB first. Thanks for that info. Update/After thought:  So will that mapping work the other way too?  If I create a new mailbox in TB will it be created on the server too?  I would think it would have to to keep the symmetry.

lem3 · Answer

Any changes on the client(s) are reflected at the server and vice versa.

IMAP Server (all domains)	SMTP Server (all domains)	IMAP User ID (Full e-mail address)
imap.mail.yahoo.com	smtp.mail.yahoo.com	MemberID@(customer's domain)

AT&T Community Forums

drose977

how can i download AT&T webmail including local foldersto a free desktop client like thunderbird?

_xyzzy_

drose977

lem3

_xyzzy_

lem3

Did this help you?

drose977

how can i download AT&T webmail including local foldersto a free desktop client like thunderbird?

_xyzzy_

drose977

lem3

_xyzzy_

lem3

Related Conversations

Did this help you?

Tags