IMAP accounts no longer update - Charter/Spectrum email hosting
I have two Charter/Spectrum email accounts (domain is charter.net) set up via IMAP in Thunderbird (latest version) on Windows 11 Pro (also latest version, August 2026 CU is installed). They no longer update; at the moment I see no email in either after 8/27/26 around 5:00pm EDT. Confirmed via Web access there are emails after this point (a couple dozen at least, in each account).
Most recently I've tried repairing the Inbox mailbox for both. No help. Because I did that, Thunderbird now shows no emails in my Inbox even though it'd had hundreds of them before.
Note, I'd noticed the same problem a week ago, had tried fixing it at that time by removing both accounts and adding them back. They worked for a few days but then stopped working again on 8/27 as noted above.
Another oddity: If I go onto synchronization settings (right-click on account name then Subscribe), it shows no folders available to subscribe to. The folder list is empty and the Refresh button is grayed out. It shows it looked up and connected to mobile.charter.net at the bottom of the dialog, so I'd expect it would have retrieved the list of IMAP folders, but apparently it got nothing. And it refuses to get anything.
I assume I can remove the accounts and add them back, but why should this be necessary every few days? Seems bizarre. Thunderbird used to work with these accounts very well but now it seems to have blown up. Who decided this is how IMAP works?
Modified by CtDeeJay
Chosen Solution
Appreciate the response, David.
Clearly something is going on with Charter/Spectrum email hosting that their personnel blatantly refuse to own up to, and based on their lack of response, I presume they don't intend to fix.
Even though this isn't exactly a Thunderbird issue, I'm leaving this here for benefit of anyone else on their system who's having issues. I've edit the name of this issue to make clear it's focused on charter.net aka Spectrum email accounts.
Modified by CtDeeJay
All Replies (4)
P.S. I have only Windows Defender running on this computer for antivirus with Windows Firewall turned off on private networks (which is what it's currently on). Temporarily disabling real-time protection in Defender does not help.
Further update which may be of interest to any Charter/Spectrum customers: I contacted their tech support. Initially I was told my account had been locked, the way to unlock it was to reset my password (via their Web site), which I did. Trying to connect Thunderbird once again caused my email account to be locked again (but not my Web site account, strangely). I unlocked the account again by resetting password a second time. Still, Thunderbird would not connect.
Two subsequent calls to their tech support accomplished nothing. Ultimately they said there's nothing they can do. But the 2nd person I spoke with said they were aware of a problem with "Outlook" which they are supposedly working on and plan to fix (no ETA). Because I'd mentioned "Thunderbird" rather than "Outlook" they stated there's nothing they can do and will not fix it. But I suspect there's a problem with their IMAP and possibly SMTP service which may be in play here (because let's face it, both Outlook and Thunderbird use the same protocols to communicate with their mailboxes).
Bottom line, there's a lot of confusion at Charter/Spectrum about how email even works. I fear they may drop IMAP/SMTP support for their mail and go with Web-access only, based on how little their agents even seem to understand about this issue.
Modified by CtDeeJay
Just sharing a comment, not a solution: We have been inundated in recent days with charter.net problems. Many eventually resolved themselves, but some users chose to switch providers. My perception is that Charter.net may have been having problems and no email client can fix that.
Chosen Solution
Appreciate the response, David.
Clearly something is going on with Charter/Spectrum email hosting that their personnel blatantly refuse to own up to, and based on their lack of response, I presume they don't intend to fix.
Even though this isn't exactly a Thunderbird issue, I'm leaving this here for benefit of anyone else on their system who's having issues. I've edit the name of this issue to make clear it's focused on charter.net aka Spectrum email accounts.
Modified by CtDeeJay
You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.