Other thoughts on backing up Gmail... In my previous post I recommended installing Thunderbird (configured to download but not delete) to periodically backup your Gmail locally. However, since I aspire to be "the cloud guy," I wanted to throw out another solution that utilize cloud resources to save your Gmail locally. That is to say, to conjure an e-mail client from the clouds that saves your Gmail to your hard drive. In an earlier post I mentioned a cloud service called Spoon which is a cloud based virtualization service that permits you to run desktop applications from the cloud.
It does require that you download and install their addon for your browser. What is the value of this service? First off, virtualization lets you run applications from one operating system (like Windows, OSX, or Linux) on some other operating system. Once you're set up, you gain access to any of the applications they make freely available online, such as a collection of e-mail clients. But what if Spoon goes under? PS. Update on Gmail outage: Thunderbird - Run Thunderbird online at Spoon. Configuring other mail clients - Gmail Help. If you're not using one of the clients or devices above, we offer general instructions on configuring some clients below.
If you encounter difficulties, we suggest contacting your mail client's customer support department -- we're unable to provide assistance for clients not listed above. Standard configuration instructions: Unless you're using recent mode to download mail to multiple clients, make sure you've opted not to leave messages on the server. Your POP settings in Gmail settings are what determines whether or not messages stay on the server, so this setting in your client won't affect how Gmail handles your mail.
If your client does not support SMTP authentication, you won't be able to send mail through your client using your Gmail address. If you're having trouble sending mail but you've confirmed that encryption is active for SMTP in your mail client, try to configure your SMTP server on a different port (465 or 587). Google Apps and Gmail outage outrage: Problem NOT resolved. Thunderbird - It’s All Yours. Configuring other mail clients - Gmail Help.