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Why can I only see <100 Gmails in my Thunderbird Inbox

silverfox5678
silverfox5678
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About 9 months ago, spam eventually forced me to shut down my ISP-POP3 email address to now use only Gmail-IMAP. I've sent and received a total of about 1,000 Gmails since then - which I try to access using Thunderbird on my PC as well as using native Gmail on my Android Smartphone.

My problem now is that when I look at my Inbox on the PC, Thunderbird only shows the last 2-3 weeks' emails which might be between 30 or 50 messages.

Similarly, if I look at Gmail using native Gmail (say the app on my Smartphone) I see the same 30-50 Gmails in my Inbox. But on the Smartphone, if I select All Mail instead of Inbox, I see more than 2,000 emails. I'd like to see all of those on my PC via Thunderbird.

Looking at my Thunderbird settings, I have "download all" set and NOT "please delete after 30 days". My problem maybe something to do with how I use Gmail so maybe it's unfair to ask the folks here.

But I am finding it difficult to get a book or anything that really explains how the Gmail structure works in real detail. Gmail for dummies is all very good but it doesn't explain what I seek.

Is there anyway that I can tweak my settings in Thunderbird to show all Gmails. Is there maybe something obvious that I'm doing wrong in Gmail.

About 9 months ago, spam eventually forced me to shut down my ISP-POP3 email address to now use only Gmail-IMAP. I've sent and received a total of about 1,000 Gmails since then - which I try to access using Thunderbird on my PC as well as using native Gmail on my Android Smartphone. My problem now is that when I look at my Inbox on the PC, Thunderbird only shows the last 2-3 weeks' emails which might be between 30 or 50 messages. Similarly, if I look at Gmail using native Gmail (say the app on my Smartphone) I see the same 30-50 Gmails in my Inbox. But on the Smartphone, if I select All Mail instead of Inbox, I see more than 2,000 emails. I'd like to see all of those on my PC via Thunderbird. Looking at my Thunderbird settings, I have "download all" set and NOT "please delete after 30 days". My problem maybe something to do with how I use Gmail so maybe it's unfair to ask the folks here. But I am finding it difficult to get a book or anything that really explains how the Gmail structure works in real detail. Gmail for dummies is all very good but it doesn't explain what I seek. Is there anyway that I can tweak my settings in Thunderbird to show all Gmails. Is there maybe something obvious that I'm doing wrong in Gmail.

Chosen solution

IMAP is server based. You view messages stored on the server remotely from your devices. You do have to subscribe to the folders on the server that you want to see. In Thunderbird click File-Subscribe and select the folders you want to see and unchecked those that you don't. Important to know that anything you do from any device or at the server affects all. Delete a message anywhere and it is gone everywhere.

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All Replies (3)

user01229325
user01229325
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Chosen Solution

IMAP is server based. You view messages stored on the server remotely from your devices. You do have to subscribe to the folders on the server that you want to see. In Thunderbird click File-Subscribe and select the folders you want to see and unchecked those that you don't. Important to know that anything you do from any device or at the server affects all. Delete a message anywhere and it is gone everywhere.

silverfox5678
silverfox5678 Question owner
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Amazing fix. Thanks. I've now got 3400 Gmails.

silverfox5678
silverfox5678 Question owner
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Airmail,

Thank you for the fix. But out of the blue, the problem comes back.

That is All Mail in (native app) GMAIL shows 4,000 messages but in Thunderbird I only see a few pages, maybe 100 messages in All Mail.

That's despite Subscribing to All Mail and indeed all folders. I'm thinking of, in the native GMAIL app of using the so-called "Move To" function to "move" copying 80 x50 (=4,000) messages from All Mail to Inbox. Then if I go to Thunderbird I'll see 4,000 messages. Then I can move these 4,000 messages into a Thunderbird local folder which I've named "Old EMs keep forever". But this is a rather clumsy work around.

Silverfox5678