So, how does it work? And how did I set it up?įirst, install Thunderbird and set up whatever online email account you want to backup. And, it’s free, doesn’t violate any terms of service, and works with my existing data backup approach. Easily might be a bit of a stretch here, but it is retrievable using this solution. I was wondering if there was a way to have Mozilla archive my email in a way that I can easily retrieve the email should I need to. I have used Thunderbird for various tasks in the past and like its interface. Enter Mozilla’s Thunderbird email client. I’m also a fan of Open Source Software (OSS) and would prefer an OSS solution to any software needs I have. In other words, I have local and offsite redundancy for all my important files.) Certain folders on the file server are backed up in real-time to an online service so I also have a real-time offsite backup of all my important files. (FYI, my storage solution is to run a local file server in my house with a RAID array so I have plenty of space and local backups. Since I have already worked out a storage solution for old files that is quite reliable, moving my old email to that storage solution makes sense. And, of course, I’m always wary about storing my data with Google or other large software companies. However, Google has recently changed its storage policies for their email accounts, which has made me a little nervous. Basically, I created a second email account that I use almost exclusively (not exclusively – I use it for a couple of other things) for storing the email from my primary Gmail account. However, my current approach to backing up my email is, let’s say, a borderline violation of Google’s Terms of Service. Several times, I have gone back 5 or more years to look for a specific email and my archive has saved me. There have been times when I have actually benefited from my email archive.