PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT
How do I download my AOL emails?
Q I’ve been using AOL email for a long time, and have around 15 years’ worth of messages saved online. Is there an easy way to download all those messages from AOL’s servers to my PC so I can access them when I’m not online?
Paul Rowe
A Yes – and it’s not particularly difficult. In fact, there’s little more to it than installing an email program on your computer, then setting it up to access your AOL email account (see screenshot 1). Thunderbird is a popular choice with our readers, and it’s a free download from www.thunderbird.net. For more information about this and other email tools, read our Cover Feature in Issue 644, and the Workshop in Issue 638 (both available on our 2022 Back Issue CD: www.snipca.com/44660).
Thunderbird is easy to set up, but you’ll need to tweak a few settings to achieve your goal. First, when following the instructions to set up the program, make sure you choose the IMAP option 2. This in effect creates a synchronised copy of your email account on your PC, so the same folders and messages appear in the same way in Thunderbird and AOL online. This also means your messages remain available online unless you delete them – but more on that in a moment.
Next, you need to ensure that Thunderbird is configured to download all messages to your PC, so they’re available to read offline. Press Alt to reveal Thunderbird’s menu bar, then click Tools followed by Account Settings. This will open the Account Settings tab . On the left of the tab, click ‘Synchronisation & Storage’. The options on the right control which messages the program will download. If you tick the ‘Keep messages in all folders for this account on this computer’ box and don’t change any other setting, Thunderbird will download all your messages. Bear
