Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Our email account is present within Thunderbird, but we cannot seem to access it in any way.

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by AgnesRM

billy_spencer
billy_spencer
more options

I am helping my grandfather with Thunderbird, but I am completely inexperienced with it and am completely stumped.

When I click on 'Get Messages', the email we want appears as an option alongside an icon of a letter and a padlock, it is clickable, but it doesn't do anything. Most of the available buttons are clickable, but don't do anything. The 'Write' button is really the only one that seems to be able to do anything, although when I attempt to write a message, there is no available option for the 'From' category. The active tab does not have a title. There is almost nothing here to work with.

Any help you folks can provide would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

I am helping my grandfather with Thunderbird, but I am completely inexperienced with it and am completely stumped. When I click on 'Get Messages', the email we want appears as an option alongside an icon of a letter and a padlock, it is clickable, but it doesn't do anything. Most of the available buttons are clickable, but don't do anything. The 'Write' button is really the only one that seems to be able to do anything, although when I attempt to write a message, there is no available option for the 'From' category. The active tab does not have a title. There is almost nothing here to work with. Any help you folks can provide would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Chosen solution

This answer explains what the lock icon means. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1091005 So - you need to know the correct settings that will allow Thunderbird to connect to the email server, log in and download his emails. Often you can find the correct settings by searching for the proper setup for that email provider online - or call/ask online the support for his email provider if they have support. Was this working previously, or is this a first-time setup of Thunderbird?

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (3)

AgnesRM
AgnesRM
more options

Chosen Solution

This answer explains what the lock icon means. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1091005 So - you need to know the correct settings that will allow Thunderbird to connect to the email server, log in and download his emails. Often you can find the correct settings by searching for the proper setup for that email provider online - or call/ask online the support for his email provider if they have support. Was this working previously, or is this a first-time setup of Thunderbird?

billy_spencer
billy_spencer Question owner
more options

Thank you for your help AgnesRM, I will be trying again tonight.

The answer you linked to mentions 'Account Settings' and the like, but from what I recall that option didn't seem to be anywhere. As I said, very few buttons actually do anything.

The possibility has been raised that the profile is corrupted, which is another avenue I might explore.

To answer your question, Thunderbird was working previously. Also, we are running the most recent version as I tried uninstalling and re-installing the program. I am unsure how up-to-date his Windows system is, though.

Thank you again.

AgnesRM
AgnesRM
more options

Hi I hope you were successful! Account settings will be under either the top Menu -> Tools - Account settings, or the 3bar (hamburger) menu button on the right. However - if the uninstalled version was much older, and you installed the latest version instead of upgrading, the older profile structure might not be compatible with the new Thunderbird. In that case you may need a more expert helper - please create a new request, as this is marked solved. Agnes