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Synchronization and opening of new messages is very slow on Gmail.

  • 5 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 180 views
  • Last reply by Matt W

stefano.adriani
stefano.adriani

For a few days now, synchronization and opening new messages from a Gmail account configured in Thunderbird have been very slow. I use Thunderbird 140.x, which is regularly updated, and the mailbox has been configured for at least 5 years. Only in the last week has the problem emerged, rendering it unusable. Timeout errors and opening a new message after 2-3 minutes. I've cleared the cache, the database, and re-indexed, but nothing has changed. I've deleted and reconfigured my Gmail account, but nothing has changed. My Gmail mailbox is about 45 GB (I've seen much larger ones without losing performance). I tried installing Thunderbird on a new, clean PC, but the same thing. Extremely slow. Google support hasn't found any issues. Do you have any other suggestions for getting Thunderbird back up and running? Thanks.

For a few days now, synchronization and opening new messages from a Gmail account configured in Thunderbird have been very slow. I use Thunderbird 140.x, which is regularly updated, and the mailbox has been configured for at least 5 years. Only in the last week has the problem emerged, rendering it unusable. Timeout errors and opening a new message after 2-3 minutes. I've cleared the cache, the database, and re-indexed, but nothing has changed. I've deleted and reconfigured my Gmail account, but nothing has changed. My Gmail mailbox is about 45 GB (I've seen much larger ones without losing performance). I tried installing Thunderbird on a new, clean PC, but the same thing. Extremely slow. Google support hasn't found any issues. Do you have any other suggestions for getting Thunderbird back up and running? Thanks.

All Replies (5)

Michel T
Michel T

Disable Antivirus if you have one ( for testing purposes ) to see .

stefano.adriani
stefano.adriani Question owner

I tried disabling both antivirus (default Microsoft) and firewall (Microsoft) and nothing changed.

Wayne Mery
Wayne Mery
  • Moderator
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https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Memory_Usage_Problems walks through potential performance factors.

stefano.adriani
stefano.adriani Question owner

While I'm following the instructions, I should point out that the slow performance occurs exclusively with my Gmail inbox. I have other (non-Gmail) mailboxes in Thunderbird that work properly, with "normal" performance. For example: when Thunderbird starts, messages from all mailboxes are downloaded in a few moments, while my Gmail inbox takes over an hour to sync and 5-10 minutes to preview a new message.

Matt W
Matt W
      1. slow performance occurs exclusively with my Gmail inbox.

Good catch - same here - my pobox email work as expected while gmail is very slow

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