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Thunderbird keeps trying to log into a removed account.

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  • Last reply by Chris

Chris
Chris
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Problem:

You remove an account like Google from Thunderbird, but Thunderbird continues to repeatedly show a pop-up to log into that account (in my case Google). I've noticed it even freezes the Thunderbird UI on startup.

Note: I'm self-answering this question. Mozilla Support has similar questions, but they're archived with incomplete answers. By archiving them, Mozilla is preventing the community from improving the solutions on those problems.

This exact question has been asked at least 4 different times, and it's been archived with 4 different solutions. All of them are valid advice.

'''Problem:''' You remove an account like Google from Thunderbird, but Thunderbird continues to repeatedly show a pop-up to log into that account (in my case Google). I've noticed it even freezes the Thunderbird UI on startup. '''Note:''' I'm self-answering this question. Mozilla Support has similar questions, but they're archived with incomplete answers. By archiving them, Mozilla is preventing the community from improving the solutions on those problems. This exact question '''has been asked at least 4 different times''', and it's been archived with 4 different solutions. All of them are valid advice. * "Check your calendars" - https://support.mozilla.org/mk/questions/1441082 * "Check your addons" - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1208183 * "Check your addressbook" - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1440106 * "Check troubleshooting info" - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1398233

Modified by Chris

Chosen solution

(I'm making the assumption that you have already gone to the Account Settings and removed the problem account.)

So, there are 3 things you need to check:

1. Your calendars - do you still have a calendar connected to your removed account? 2. Your address books - do you have an address book connected to your removed account? 3. Your SMTP settings - Under "Account Settings" > "Outgoing Server (SMTP)", do you still have an identity listed from your removed account?

If any of those are still present, they need to be removed.

You can further debug this problem by:

Check if addons are the problem

1. Go to "Help" > "Troubleshoot mode". 2. Click "Okay" or whatever the button is to continue and restart Thunderbird. 3. After Thunderbird opens, wait to see if you get the popup again. 4. If you do, then addons are NOT the cause.

Look at the raw settings file

1. Go to "Help" > "Troubleshooting information". 2. Check "Include account names" at the top. 3. See if your removed account still shows up. (You can use CTRL + F to search this page)

If it is not listed, that doesn't mean it's totally gone. To be absolutely sure you can:

1. Click "Open Directory" to the right of "Profile Directory". 2. Close Thunderbird. 3. In that directory you opened, open pref.js. 4. If Thunderbird references your removed account at all, it will be in this file.

This will point you in the right direction. I don't think I would recommend updating pref.js. Maybe if you go to "about:config" instead and update any settings from there, it would be safer. Also - Do not update "pref.js" while Thunderbird is open, your changes will get overwritten when Thunderbird closes.

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Chris
Chris Question owner
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Chosen Solution

(I'm making the assumption that you have already gone to the Account Settings and removed the problem account.)

So, there are 3 things you need to check:

1. Your calendars - do you still have a calendar connected to your removed account? 2. Your address books - do you have an address book connected to your removed account? 3. Your SMTP settings - Under "Account Settings" > "Outgoing Server (SMTP)", do you still have an identity listed from your removed account?

If any of those are still present, they need to be removed.

You can further debug this problem by:

Check if addons are the problem

1. Go to "Help" > "Troubleshoot mode". 2. Click "Okay" or whatever the button is to continue and restart Thunderbird. 3. After Thunderbird opens, wait to see if you get the popup again. 4. If you do, then addons are NOT the cause.

Look at the raw settings file

1. Go to "Help" > "Troubleshooting information". 2. Check "Include account names" at the top. 3. See if your removed account still shows up. (You can use CTRL + F to search this page)

If it is not listed, that doesn't mean it's totally gone. To be absolutely sure you can:

1. Click "Open Directory" to the right of "Profile Directory". 2. Close Thunderbird. 3. In that directory you opened, open pref.js. 4. If Thunderbird references your removed account at all, it will be in this file.

This will point you in the right direction. I don't think I would recommend updating pref.js. Maybe if you go to "about:config" instead and update any settings from there, it would be safer. Also - Do not update "pref.js" while Thunderbird is open, your changes will get overwritten when Thunderbird closes.

Modified by Chris

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