Have difficulty deleting emails
I recently bought a new HP laptop running Windows 11, and installed Thunderbird I am still using an older HP laptop running Windows 10, running Thunderbird for years without issues
I installed Thunderbird on the new Windows 11 laptop (without using the USB drive for the profile) and managed to carry over the address book using my account from the old laptop. It is working, but acts odd when deleting emails.
When I delete an email (by highlighting it and hit Delete) in the Inbox, it disappears from the Inbox, but it still shows up in the All Mail folder. When I try to delete it from the All Mail folder (by highlighting it and hit Delete), it disappears for a split second and then comes back. The only way to permanently delete ANY email is to move it to the Local Folders - Trash.
It's like playing whack a mole!
I'm wondering if there is some setting issue, or if I should just uninstall Thunderbird, reinstall it again using the USB for the profile from the old laptop and start all over.
I would appreciate any help!
All Replies (4)
There's no need to uninstall or reinstall Thunderbird. It wouldn't help in a case like this.
For one thing, Gmail maintains the All Mail "folder," (really a label) which literally includes All Mail, including Deleted, and Spam messages. Even though this shows up as an IMAP folder, it has no purpose in Thunderbird and tends to confuse the user, as you found.
Best practice is to unsubscribe from All Mail. To do that, right-click on the account name in the Accounts/Folders List and choose "Subscribe". You'll see a list of all available folders - uncheck "All Mail", then OK.
Also, check the setting <Account Settings | Server Settings | Server Settings | "When I delete a message"> and confirm that it's set to move to "Trash on Gmail".
From now on, when you delete a message, it will move to Trash like you would expect.
The best suggestion is to unsubscribe from Allmail. That's a dance that Gmail does. Not recommended. Allmail means it keeps all mail, including what you delete.. you will save disc space, cpu resources, and transfer time by unsubscribing from allmail folder.
Thanks david & Lin for advising to unsubscribe from All Mail, which I have done. I was not aware before of this option. No more confusion. I now have my sanity back!
I wanted to check both of your messages as "Mark as solution", but I found that you can only check one.
I wish there was a way to check the two boxes to give both of you credit, so I didn't check either so as not to insult either of you!
Dave
Thank you for your consideration, but Lin always buys the beer, regardless. Please go ahead and mark it solved, as that removes it from the list of unresolved issues. :)
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