From pop to IMAP and disaster

I got IMAP working on my main account. I then restored the backup I took earlier. I then found that although the folders had been populated it had all reverted to POP again.
How do I get all my mails back in place and retain IMAP settings?
I understood I had to delete the POP account first, which I’ve done. I see no way to keep the IMAP settings when mails are restored.
I really need help here please, I’ve been 2 days at this so far.
Thank you

If you restore a backup, it will complete revert eM Client to the way it was when the backup was made. So undoing any changes you made since the backup.

To move from POP3 to IMAP you need to first setup the account again using the automatic setup in Menu > Accounts > Add Account. This will setup the account as IMAP.

Next, move the messages from the POP3 folders to the new IMAP folders.

When that is done, remove the POP3 account.

Thanks for quick reply Gary! By copy, will drag and drop do it?

I’m not sure now what mails I have in the folders as I have restored 3 times trying to sort this.
Before I restored I just had about a dozen mails in different folders, so all the stuff I want is in the backup.

OK. I have set up the automatic IMAP account which diagnosed OK, but I noticed it started downloading and synching which is taking a while. Was that supposed to happen?

Update.

I now have two of my three accounts working with IMAP.

Big problem though still. I only have about 10 mails in my main inbox.
I need to somehow get the bulk of them from the backup

Sounds like a mess. Try this.

  1. Get a free email account from GMX.com.

  2. Restore your backup.

  3. With your old account restored, add the new GMX account as an IMAP account.

  4. Copy emails and folders from old to GMX. COPY, not MOVE. This will take awhile depending on how much email you have. Make sure REFRESH arrows are done spinning so you know they are on GMX fully.

  5. Now re-add your actual IMAP accounts. Remove old POP3 if you need to.

  6. Copy emails from GMX to the account(s) where you want them to be. Make sure REFRESH arrows are done spinning so you know they are off GMX fully.

  7. When you are ABSOLUTELY sure everything is as it should be, delete the emails from GMX. You can delete the GMX account as well if you like.

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It is not necessary to sync the messages with another provider. If the account was setup as POP3, the messages are local. You simply add the account again as IMAP, move the messages from the POP3 folder to the IMAP folders, then remove the POP3 account.