Showing questions for topic:

unable to download any new emails in thunderbird due to ccorrupted file

I have been using Thunderbird for my email for more than 15 years. About once ever few years a corrupted email file prevents me from downloading any more email. In the … (read more)

I have been using Thunderbird for my email for more than 15 years. About once ever few years a corrupted email file prevents me from downloading any more email. In the past I was able to use ftp to list email files on the pop server, find the corrupted file and delete it restoring my ability to download again.. It happened again on Oct 2 but I can no longer use ftp to access the files to fix the problem. IT appears that yahoo has fixed that problem in their email software but Thunderbird does not contain that fix. The bad file is somewhere in the first 4 to 10 files on Oct 2. It follows a file from American cruise lines.in my [redacted]@yahoo.com account using Thunderbird. I now have over 900 email files I cannot download using Thunderbird but can see those files using yahoo email software. Please fix Thunderbird.

Open 1

Local directory path not suitable for message storage?

I received an error saying 'The Local Directory path C:\\Users\\RER-KU\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\q2hrwh2q.default\Mail\Local Folders" is not suitable for messa… (read more)

I received an error saying 'The Local Directory path C:\\Users\\RER-KU\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\q2hrwh2q.default\Mail\Local Folders" is not suitable for message storage. Please choose another directory.'

I cannot receive any emails, and also received the error 'Sending of password for user 'rerlaroberts@att.net' did not succeed. Mail server inbound.att.net responded: Server error - Please try again later.'

I have had the same issue for 3 days now with no luck.

Open 1

Get Messages not working in the latest version 157.1

Since the recent update, 157.1, I cannot get the "Get Messages" button to work and it will not download new emails. I can download a previous version and it works just fi… (read more)

Since the recent update, 157.1, I cannot get the "Get Messages" button to work and it will not download new emails. I can download a previous version and it works just fine. I also cannot stop the auto updating function even though I check the box to not auto install.

Open 1 1

Comcast / xfinity oauth site requesting that I enter my Comcast password. Wild Windows 11 Behavior

I have had Thunderbird on my Mac Monterey synced to my Comcast email address with no problems. Usually I have to enter my Comcast password when I send the first message … (read more)

I have had Thunderbird on my Mac Monterey synced to my Comcast email address with no problems. Usually I have to enter my Comcast password when I send the first message for the day. It has caused no real problems since I obtained this computer, probably sometime in 2021. Within 2023 I obtained a Windows 10, onto which I also put Thunderbird. Last November I upgraded to Windows 11 had kept Thunderbird. I did not do the upgrade myself. The technician used Google Drive and OneDrive for backup. I added a GMAIL address on that system to my Thunderbird installation on Windows 11.

For the past week Thunderbird has been popping up a Comcast site requesting that I enter my Comcast password. This is bizarre! How can I get my Thunderbird to behave more normally on my Windows 11? Thanks in advance. The technician only did the upgrade. I did the subsequent program reinstallations.

Open 7 1 91

How can I again access my email, using AT&T PIN & password, which stopped working 2 days ago, please?

I use a personal computer, and can access my email two ways: 1) By typing "att.net" into my browser and choosing email." 2) By booting up PC, typing PIN, then a 16-digit… (read more)

I use a personal computer, and can access my email two ways: 1) By typing "att.net" into my browser and choosing email." 2) By booting up PC, typing PIN, then a 16-digit alpha password generated by ATT. Two days ago this function stopped working. Q: What can I do to again access my email via the ATT account? I called AT&T yesterday, and human advised me it was a Thunderbird problem.

And I don't know how to "...find my version in Thunderbird App menu as requested below.

Thanks!/rose

Open 1

Yahoo Mail authentication errors in Activity Manager

I recently set up Thunderbird for Windows as a troubleshooting step for my Yahoo Mail account which has been generating an incessant number of authentication pop-ups in M… (read more)

I recently set up Thunderbird for Windows as a troubleshooting step for my Yahoo Mail account which has been generating an incessant number of authentication pop-ups in Microsoft Outlook (Classic) for Windows. I had been using New Outlook for many months before switching to Classic Outlook a couple of weeks ago. With New Outlook, there had been no authentication issues nor pop-ups appearing. I have been using the OAuth authentication, not app passwords, in all cases.

Setup within Thunderbird was relatively easy and the OAuth authentication went through without issues. The account has synchronized and seems to be continuing to do so as I read, delete, and send messages.

However, when I went in to the Activity Manager, I'm seeing a number of errors, appearing every 10-15 minutes or so. They read as follows:

  • Alert from account xxx@yahoo.com: AUTHENTICATE Server error - Please try again later
  • The current operation on 'Inbox' did not succeed. The mail server for account xxx@yahoo.com responded: UID FETCH completed.
  • The current operation on 'Inbox' did not succeed. The mail server for account xxx@yahoo.com responded: p.

Can anyone help me understand what they mean? It would help me stabilize Thunderbird and might give some clues as to what is happening in Outlook Classic for me. It would seem some have authentication issues with Yahoo on different platforms while the service works perfectly fine for others. I would like to move away from Yahoo as I find it finicky with a number of its features, but I'm a long-term user (25+ years) and don't see that being a practical solution at the moment.

Thanks!

Open 3

i can send emails but cannot receive them all of the sudden??

Not sure what is going on but all of the sudden my inbound server is not allowing emails in. Outbound works. AT&T says its a Thunderbird issue. My computer guy c… (read more)

Not sure what is going on but all of the sudden my inbound server is not allowing emails in. Outbound works. AT&T says its a Thunderbird issue. My computer guy cannot figure it out. Help. I can only receive email on AT&T

Open 1

Thunderbird suddenly stopped receiving AT&T email ?

Earlier today I was able to access my AT&T email using Thunderbird. I have several email addresses & they worked. But later on I could not download any AT&T e… (read more)

Earlier today I was able to access my AT&T email using Thunderbird. I have several email addresses & they worked. But later on I could not download any AT&T email. Interesting that my gmail address still works with TB.

I tried a few things - An AT&T address can send to the gmail address & the gmail does receive it. The gmail can send to an AT&T address. The gmail indicates it was sent, but the AT&T address never receives it.

It seems to be an AT&T problem so I went to the AT&T site & deleted the Secure Mail Key an created a new one. Did this on just one address. It can still send to the gmail address, however it still cannot receive anything.

When trying to receive any AT&T email, at the bottom of the screen it displays my address & “Connected to inbound.att .net”. That would seem to indicate I'm connected but just cannot get my email.

And suggestions on how to get TB working with AT&T email? Thanks.

Open 6 8

Hotmail personal account: IMAP OAuth2 works but SMTP OAuth2 fails with message: 535 5.7.139 “SmtpClientAuthentication is disabled for the Mailbox”

I am assisting an elderly user with a personal @hotmail.com account that receives email successfully in Thunderbird but cannot send. I have confirmed they can send and re… (read more)

I am assisting an elderly user with a personal @hotmail.com account that receives email successfully in Thunderbird but cannot send. I have confirmed they can send and receive emails from their online outlook.com portal. The user's computer setup is as follows:

  • Windows 11 (with latest updates).
  • Thunderbird 153.0.2 (64-bit).
  • A personal @hotmail.com account with the following server configurations:
  -> Incoming IMAP: outlook.office365.com, port 993, SSL/TLS, OAuth2, and
  -> Outgoing SMTP: smtp-mail.outlook.com, port 587, STARTTLS, OAuth2.

Thunderbird successfully authenticates to Microsoft using OAuth2 for incoming email. However, when Thunderbird attempts outgoing email authentication, Microsoft's SMTP server rejects the authentication. The Error Console in Thunderbird records this message: "535 5.7.139 Authentication unsuccessful, SmtpClientAuthentication is disabled for the Mailbox."

-> Refer to attached image: "Thunderbird Error Console_20260811.jpg". -> I am able to provide a short screen recording demonstrating the failure if needed.

To try and resolve the above, I completed the following actions:

  1. Confirmed Thunderbird is current (153.0.2).
  2. Confirmed SMTP is configured for OAuth2 rather than Normal Password.
  3. Confirmed port 587 and STARTTLS.
  4. Re-authorised the Microsoft account/OAuth connection.
  5. Confirmed IMAP OAuth2 works.
  6. Confirmed Outlook.com webmail can send successfully.
  7. Reviewed Mozilla's current “Microsoft OAuth Authentication and Thunderbird in 2026” guidance, including the section covering cases where IMAP/POP works but SMTP does not.
  8. Captured the SMTP failure in Thunderbird's Error Console.

However nothing worked, so I raised the matter with Microsoft support and eventually had the matter referred to their Tier 2 team. The Microsoft case number is: 7107041963.

Microsoft Support confirmed that for a personal Outlook.com/Hotmail account there is no user-accessible mailbox-level SMTP AUTH setting, and advised that SMTP is enabled by default for supported clients. However, because sending from Outlook.com webmail works, Microsoft Tier 2 declined to investigate the SMTP server response further and directed me to Thunderbird support.

I am able to provide a copy of the chat transcript if needed.

In any event, the TLDR version IMAP works using OAuth2, but SMTP using OAuth2 fails because Microsoft's SMTP server reports SmtpClientAuthentication is disabled for the Mailbox. Microsoft Tier 2 has referred the issue to Thunderbird support.

Questions:

  1. Is this a known current issue affecting personal Outlook.com/Hotmail accounts using Thunderbird?
  2. Is 535 5.7.139 SmtpClientAuthentication is disabled for the Mailbox known to occur with Thunderbird OAuth2 even though IMAP OAuth2 succeeds?
  3. Is there a current Thunderbird-side workaround or alternative SMTP server/configuration recommended for personal Hotmail accounts?
  4. Would changing the SMTP server from smtp-mail.outlook.com to smtp.office365.com be appropriate for a personal Hotmail account in Thunderbird 153, or should the current Microsoft-documented server be retained?

-> I note there appears to be conflicting advice on this point in previous support threads.

  1. Given that IMAP OAuth2 authentication succeeds for the same Microsoft account, does this indicate that Thunderbird's Microsoft OAuth authorisation itself is functioning correctly, or could SMTP require a separate permission/token that may be failing?
  2. Are there any additional Thunderbird logs or diagnostics I can provide that would help resolve this matter?

Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to help organise my troubleshooting notes and technical details for this post. The troubleshooting, observations and diagnostic information described above are from my own work on the affected PC.

Open 6 1 70

Receiving alert notices that email account hawaiiantel.net is temporarily unavailable

Have been receiving alert notification that my hawaiiantel..net account is temporarily unavailable. My email messages to that account are not being received and I'm unabl… (read more)

Have been receiving alert notification that my hawaiiantel..net account is temporarily unavailable. My email messages to that account are not being received and I'm unable to move email messages to the inbox of that account. Have been receiving these alerts for the past 3-4 days. is there a way to resolve this problem?

Open 3

Thunderbird will not download yahoo emails

Hello, Everything working just fine last night. Wake up and Thunderbird will not retrieve emails. Remembered this old message I got so I went through and deleted my seco… (read more)

Hello,

Everything working just fine last night. Wake up and Thunderbird will not retrieve emails.

Remembered this old message I got so I went through and deleted my second email address, didn't help.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-yahoo

Checked all settings compared to Yahoo, still won't download messages. I can even send a message with my current settings no problem, and it does login, just won't retrieve emails. Gives me a connection timeout.

Anyone have any ideas?

Open 13 2 141

Unable to set up Outlook POP3 or IMAP mail account in Thunderbird

For the past 30 years I have had an e-mail account with FreeNetName in the UK, which during that time moved to Madasafish and then PlusNet. I have always run the account … (read more)

For the past 30 years I have had an e-mail account with FreeNetName in the UK, which during that time moved to Madasafish and then PlusNet.

I have always run the account on Thunderbird as POP3.

I've just moved the account to GoDaddy and set up an Outlook e-mail account with them.

I'm unable to set up Thunderbird on POP3 or IMAP to be able to access my e-mails, despite having followed numerous articles.

When trying to complete set-up, I get the error: "Configuration could not be verified. If your username and password are correct, it’s likely that the server administrator has disabled the selected configuration for your account. Try selecting another protocol."

Within the Outlook settings, the "Let devices and apps use POP" slider is greyed out.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Open 1

Thunderbird is deleting emails in my inbox, it only retains 14 days, this is only happening on 1 computer but not on my other one, it started randomly 6 weeks ago

Thunderbird is deleting emails in my inbox, it only retains 14 days, this is only happening on 1 computer but not on my other one, it started randomly 6 weeks ago, when i… (read more)

Thunderbird is deleting emails in my inbox, it only retains 14 days, this is only happening on 1 computer but not on my other one, it started randomly 6 weeks ago, when it deleted over 1000 emails , i know they are on the server because i can access them from another pc. every other folder is fine just the inbox.

Open 1

Replies are not stored in sent folder. Thunderbird Keeps Changing the folder from Sent to Other

This issue has existed for a while now. I keep receiving this message on my screen when I send an email from StartMail ( see attached ) This issue does not occur with oth… (read more)

This issue has existed for a while now. I keep receiving this message on my screen when I send an email from StartMail ( see attached )

This issue does not occur with other providers when using the same client to send emails.

It happens on different computers that has a newly installed operating system and a fresh installation of Thunderbird. The issue is only with the sent folder and only for this email account.


I taken multiple steps to correct this.


Tried installing Thunderbird on a fresh operating system installation and the issues persit

Account Settings -> Copies & Folders. I have tried both Sent and Other.

IMAP is properly configured to imap.startmail.com port 993. This should not matter because the issue is only to the sent folder.

Sent folder set to Syncronized

Sent messages not going into a different folder by mistakes because of any filter.

Properties Repair Folder done

Inside the profile folder under IMAP imap.startmail.com deleted Sent.msf, Sent messages, Sent messages.msf

Click on get messages


.......If I sent an email from the startMail web interface then the email is saved to the Sent Messages but the counter does not show there is a new email

Again the issue only affects mt Startmail account sent folder. All the other accounts do not have issues.

There is a messages that keep re appearing on my screen. Is this helpful ?

The current command did not succeed. The mail server for account ........@startmail.com responded: [TRYCREATE] Mailbox doesn't exist: Sent (0.001 + 0.000 secs ).

What gives I have both a sent and a sent messages folder but no messages are saved and if I am reading this right is telling me that the folder I have does not exist ?

Also I am using Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon

A few hours after my initial post I tried another client. Evolution client was configured and worked out of the box. There was no issues with emails being placed in the sent folder.

Is Thunderbird broken ?

I appreciate any help to correct this please. Thanks

Open 4 20