Thunderbird Support Forum

Hi,

I am a longtime Thunderbird user. I have 3 email accounts that I check via Thunderbird. I am having issues on just one of those accounts since the 115 Supernova update. I see the message "checking inbox for new messages" but they are not downloading. I have ATT email through Yahoo, and I can log into Yahoo Mail (webmail) and see the messages there ... they suddenly are just not downloading to Thunderbird.

I have tried:

compacting folders Thunderbird safe mode Windows safe mode with networking turning my antivirus off temporarily moving all emails in that account Inbox to a backup folder

I'm frustrated and need to download mail - can you please help me?! Thanks!

Hello, I have recently changed my Host and in the process of trying to reconfigure my server details for my new mail account I accidentally removed my account, thereby losing all mails and folders including my customer database, which leaves me feeling bereft.

Looking at similar questions it seems that it is possible to restore the lost mails and folders but unfortunately I am not that savy with this stuff and find it all rather difficult and scary.

Are there any step by step instructions on how I can restore my account or simply get access to my lost mails and folders ?

Thank you very much for any assistance.

Ray

Hi, I have just changed my hosting company. I reconfigured my server settings and now I have TWO mailboxes: ray@raysloan.com (this is the one I want!) and another ray@nilgaut.o2switch.net All mails are going into the latter and this is NOT the one I want. If I look at 'settings' for raysloan.com at the top it says 'The following is a special account. There are no identities associated with it - account name ray@raysloan.com' !?

Please see the screen shots attached.

I am terrified of trying anything for fear of losing important mails. The last time something similar happened I lost all of my client information ! How can I get my primary mailbox back as my default mailbox and get rid of the ray@nilgaut.o2switch.net without losing mails ?

Thanks very much for any help.

Tonight I accidentally mistyped my password upon starting Thunderbird, so I chose "enter new password" and retyped it correctly. But now it won't download my mail, and I can't find any way to try entering the password again. (My password is not saved.) When I click "Get messages" the blue progress bar flickers at the bottom of the screen briefly but the Activity Manager remains blank. No mail is downloaded and there are no progress messages. There is also a small "null" note at bottom left, not sure whether that's related.

I have tried restarting Thunderbird several times, and restarting my computer entirely. No difference. I went into Settings / Privacy and Security and confirmed that there is no password saved. None of the settings have been changed. But I'm not getting an error message when I try to download mail, it's not doing anything at all (aside from the brief flicker of the progress bar).

I tried sending a test message and got the error "Sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because connecting to Outgoing server (SMTP) smtp.theworld.com failed. The server may be unavailable or is refusing SMTP connections. Please verify that your Outgoing server (SMTP) settings are correct and try again." But none of my settings have changed. I can access my mail via web server so there isn't a problem with the ISP. But answering mail that way is really clumsy and time-consuming. I need my Thunderbird!

I am using Thunderbird 102.12.0 with Windows 10 Pro. I have been a happy Thunderbird user for many years (since 2015 I think) and have never encountered this problem before. I really hope you can tell me how to solve it, I am aware of several time-sensitive messages in my mailbox and I can't download anything. Thanks very much for your time!

I just upgraded to version 102.1.2 and almost all is working fine. However, when I go to my Newsgroups I now need to enter Username and Password.

I have checked the "Use Password Manger to remember this password." It works for that time but then a few minutes later I need to do it all over again!!!

Then when I try to go to Tools>Options>Privacy & Security>Passwords the "Options" link does NOT exist!!!

In all the years of using Thunderbird this has never happened before on a Upgrade to a new version.

Is there a fix for this in another update or is there something I am missing??

Thanks,

Les

Hi. Have been helped a lot in the past through this road. Hopefully this 'inconvenience' will be resolved. My provider provides me with one mailbox with 5 alias addresses, from which my wife and I created our own accounts. TB has shown that entering these different mail accounts is necessary in order to be able to compose a message - each with their specific e-mail address. Until there no problem. However, because of this TB makes the same amount - always with the same content - lists 'Inbox', 'Sent', Drafts and everything else! So I see 4 times all the same folders appearing with all different accounts! It would be more manageable to have only one, since those aliases end up in the same mailbox, so the content is identical. Specifically: if we could enter all desired (alias) accounts in TB and thus send the message via the desired account, but only see one collective - yet the same - list appear. Plus, we're constantly getting notifications of all incoming messages that we've seen before with all the other aliases! Bit of an annoying abundance of the same thing over and over. Thank you for the help we hope to receive.

Hello! I have the grey/italic problem that has been reported often here as well. I tried these solutions, but they didn't help: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1293067 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1246828

I contacted the support of my email provider and he said that the problem is TB and not the IMAP server and I think he is right because logging in on the web the folder structure is fine and all messages are there.

so the final solutions was to reinstall TB. I did this first without deleting my user profile from the folder "roaming", but the problem persisted just the same way, and then I deleted the entire user profiles folder and the issue still exists. this means to me that this wasn't yet a clean new installation so that TB creates the folder structure completely new. To me It seems to me that TB is storing some information still on another location. Might this be?

So, how do I force TB to completely load from scratch the folder structure and it's content?

Best,

Wolfram

I would like create a back up of my local folders (26 years of emails) in the cloud. Reading questions posted here, the recommendation is to backup the complete 'Profiles' folder. However, when I try and do so, I am not successful because at some point the backup process glitches out. (I am trying to upload the folder to a Microsoft OneDrive folder and have tried on both my PC running Windows 7 Pro and a Macbook running OS Monterey.) I suspect that my internet connection is not stable enough to copy 30 GB (about the size of the 'Profiles' folder). Is there any alternative to backing up the complete 'Profiles' folder?

TB 91.7.0 (64-bit I used to send/rcv gmail no problm, started having issues ~ Oct 2021 I then setup a 3rd party app password in gmail account for thunderbird. That allowed me to Send Gmails, but, not receive it kept asking for password. Then I read to use OAuth2 and saw that Google will no longer allow 3rd party app passwords, so i deleted it in google, and set both Imap.gmail.com and smpt.gmail.com to use OAuth2 (both set for SSL/TSL). I did this just for smpt first when the 3rd party app password was still enabled, i could recv but, when i went to send, it would ask for password, i enter it, then it would sent msg to my cell phone to Allow thunderbird, i would press Allow on my phone, and Thunderbird would come up with Sending message.. with the progress marked all way to end BUT, it will never complete sending.... I have to hit cancel it then shows Failed message unable to authenticate. After I deleted the 3rd party app password in gmail settings, now when i start thunderbird or try to receive emails, it goes through the same authorization process with my phone, but, then never downloads any new emails. I have spend HOURS on this.. extremely frustrated (I have been forced to us ms mail which i really don't like, i am too used to thunderbird (although I wished thunderbird had check boxes on emails to select via checkboxes for delete, or moving, etc)

Lately I'm having trouble with my connection with outlook. I use a free outlook email address. Sometimes (not always) when starting Thunderbird, I get the "user authenticated but not connected" warning. After a while it's working again.

I have tried several settings but can't figure out what solves this issue.

I'm using port 993 / SSL/TLS and authentication method is set to normal password.

Most of the times this works.

When I switch to OAuth2, I get the Microsoft screen to login to my work / school account which I do not have.

I've search the web to find a solution for this but I can't find it. Hopefully someone can help me out because it drives me "nuts" ;)

I am very unhappy with this new Thunderbird update to 115.3.1. Everything being changed is killing my office's productivity. How can I roll back that update to the one before it.

Alternatively, is there any way to make this new update look and act like the previous version. I want all the control buttons back that used to be there.

About 10 days I started getting nthe following error message.

Sending of the message failed. An error occurred while sending mail: Outgoing server (SMTP) error. The server responded: Too many failed authentication attempts.

I have a gmail account and this works fine, my incomming POP account is OK, but the outgoing mail mostly will not send. The error corrects itself occasionally and works OK. I have checked all the settings and raised 2 calls to LCN who assured me the error was not at their side (my webmail still works OK). Any suggestions, I have deleted the password and re-entered it. Many thanks .

I had problems with thunderbird email text too small. Resolved that but now the title line with subject to and from is too large. How do I change it. Windows 11 latest version of thunderbird.

I have installed Thunderbird and logged in via Google account and I have no problems with receiving e-mails, unfortunately sending out does not work. Somebody told me to choose OAuth2 but this option does not exist for the "sending out" server. My email is on gmail. What to do? Witoldrem

I use Thunderbird email on my Windows 11 computer. My ISP for this is AOL. As of yesterday, 27 Aug 2022, I can not receive email and get this error message "The server does not support the selected authentication method. Please change the "authentication method" in the "Account Settings/Server Settings". My server settings are set to the AOL requirement of OAuth2 and have been working fine until yesterday. My Thunderbird was upgraded to 102.2.0 about the time that I noticed the email problem. Only the incoming server is affected; I can still send outgoing mail. I have the same problem on a second computer that is running Windows 10. Thunderbird on that computer was also upgraded to 102.2.0. How can I fix this issue?

Update 29 Aug 2022 - The above quoted error message from the server goes away if I change the Authentication method for the incoming server to "Normal Password" instead of "OAuth2". When I provide my AOL password (which is valid because I am able to log directly into AOL email) I get this message "Sending of password for user vvchamb did not succeed. Mail server pop.aol.com responded: [SYS/TEMP] Server error - Please try again later." About a year ago AOL required me to change the authentication from Normal Password to OAuth2 and this has worked until the latest Thunderbird upgrade.

Hi

I have a setup with my machine where I use different user accounts for different purposes as this helps me manage a large number of different applications and setups. I want to use the same Thunderbird profile for each of these users as I am the same physical person, these are logical users not different people, and therefore the profiles will never be in use simultaneously.

Research on the internet suggests that this can be done by copying the Thunderbird profile to a globally accesible directory and then using the Profile Manager to point profile.ini to the global profile. I have done this but when I try to launch Thunderbird from a different user I get a message box saying 'Thunderbird is already running, but it is not responding. The old Thunderbird process must be closed to open a new window.'. If I click on 'Close Thunderbird' the message reappears. I have confirmed in the Task Manager that the Thunderbird process is not running.

Strangely, if I launch Thunderbird from the command line version of the Profile Manager Thunderbird launches with the correct profile and appears to work fine. A forum post suggested deleting the parent.lock file in the profile and doing this does allow Thunderbird to launch with the correct profile but then I get error messages saying it could not load the message summary as it's too big.

I have looked at this link here but it's not clear what is meant by 'have each user "move it" using the profile manager'. There is no move option in the Profile Manager (as launched from the command line), just Create Profile, Rename Profile (which I've tried as another user with the same problem suggested) and Delete Profile.

Here is my current profile.ini for the users that won't launch Thunderbird.

[Install8216C80C92C4E828] Default=C:\ProgramData\Thunderbird Locked=1

[Profile2] Name=MarkDevelopment IsRelative=0 Path=C:\ProgramData\Thunderbird

[Profile1] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/uzxtlmbg.default Default=1

[Profile0] Name=default-release IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/hcw0nqcr.default-release

[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 Version=2

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am using Thunderbird 115.2.0 (64-bit)

Thunderbird can no longer receive gmail> I go round and round in a loop. Sign in with your google account. Notification sent to my phone. Yes it's me. select a number. Mozilla Thunderbird wants to access your Google Account - Allow Secure Connection Failed.

Ever since I started to use Thunderbird (some years ago) I have made a folder for each contact into which I transfer incoming and sent messages once they have received my attention (by drag and drop). This has always worked perfectly until of recent months. I now find that, on occasions, when I transfer a message, it disappears from the Inbox or Sent but does not make it to the relevant folder. Thinking the folder might have been corrupted, I have even tried making up a new one with a similar (but not the same) title but still the message gets lost. I have also tried re-importing from the webmail but, once again, when trying to move the message from the Inbox to the folder, it disappears. Messages which were in the folder also disappear so it is not just new ones which are affected. This problem only occurs with some folders but by no means all of them. I have tried the remedy suggested in the tips but this has not worked either. Any ideas?

The QUICK version is that Thunderbird automatically downloaded and installed 102.1.2, it "updated" my profile, completely corrupted it and NOW It's acting like a NEW install - NO accounts or emails, it's demanding that I enter my first email account information.

I've tried going back to version 91 and it can't read EITHER of my saved profiles because 102 "upgraded" them. Version 102 IMPORT routine DOES NOT WORK EITHER. Probably thinks that profile is already at 102 even though it WON'T utilize it.

I'm entirely HOSED - all email accounts and all emails GONE GONE GONE.

Here's a summary of my futile attempts to get help since this occurred Monday AM -

Thunderbird Wack-A-Mole:

8/15/2022

Version 102 COMPLETELY HOSED MY EMAIL.

It's demanding that I setup a new email account before it will allow me to do anything!

Meanwhile I have two dozen email accounts and thousands of emails THAT I CAN'T GET TO!

I've just spent a half hour trying to find a copy of version 92.

VERSION 102 hosed my email.

What NOW?

It demands that I setup a new email account and from what I read here my 2 dozen email accounts and thousands of emails may not be accessible any more anyway.

WHERE CAN I GET A COPY OF 92????

"Mark Lang":

From what you are describing, it seems like your TB is not recognizing your profile -- which would cause it to ask you to set up a new one. I would be more specific about exactly what you did to get to this point. You also might want to check what the profile manager is saying. Select the 3 bars in the upper right corner of TB, then Help>more troubleshooting information. Near the bottom of the first table that appears you can click on about:profiles. It should list any profiles TB recognizes. If more than one profile is listed, you might try switching to another one to see if that recovers what you missing. At any rate, more information about specifically what you did, the exact version of 102, etc. will help folks on this forum to give you assistance. The problems described in this thread seem to have been fixed by the versions of 102 at least from 102.1.xxx. At any rate, your emails should still be there on the servers.

8/16/2022:

VERSION 102.2 has DESTROYED ME!!!

When it automatically updated on BOTH my laptop and desktop, I could no longer access my email profile - NO EMAILS and ALL of my 20 email accounts are GONE GONE GONE.

I tried updating with earlier version - doesn't work because 102.2 RUINED MY PROFILE.

I tried updating with 102.2 again and then IMPORTING my accounts and messages from profile and It's STILL demanding that I setup from start again.

I didn't see your response at first, my previous email details what happened. I'll add other steps here:

Getting ready to go on the road for a week. Copied my entire Thundebird profile (26 Gig) to an SSD USB Drive.

Had older version on my laptop - not sure which version - connected to profile, got new emails but NO message bodies would appear in the message window.

Thunderbird automatically "updated" on laptop and then email was hosed - acts like new install.

Then the SAME thing happened on my desktop.

Now ALL of my profiles are screwed! I'm on the road so I don't have ANY email setup information.

"Mark Lang": The TB team recently changed the settings so that that internal updating function would upgrade users to version 102.1.2. Previously, you only got version 102 (instead of the 91.xx series) if you specifically downloaded the new version from the website. Version 102 is a major upgrade and does change the profile folder. It seems like, for some reason, your TB install is not recognizing the folder as changed. This will likely require some work from the development team to track down. Perhaps something is not working with the internal upgrade function. One user reported that he simply downloaded the full install file for version 102.1.2 from the website and reinstalled it, and it then worked fine. You might try that.

Thanks for the quick answer.

I downloaded a complete install for 102.1.2 TODAY and installed it on my laptop.

Then I ran the import from my old profile. It SAID it imported Although it seemed to happen rather fast...

Then SAME THING!!!

I start Thunderbird and it Demands I enter email account to setup.

I won't be able to do much with your tech guys until I fly back home - I'll be home in Hawai'i by Thursday (8/18).

The "updates" that hosed my email were automatic. I DID NOT request them.

My problem is I can't get to my email - EVERYTHING is HOSED in my Profile. I've tried running the import, it says it imports from old profile and doesn't. We're talking at least a dozen email accounts.

It's as if I had NEVER had TB on my computer and I am starting from scratch.

This F.U. occurred just as I was leaving home to go on a trip.

I was a professional computer programmer, consultant, systems designer from 1965 until 2006. It's amazing how techies don't realize that their "mistakes" can really mess up someone's life. I gotta' admit it took quite a few years before I realized what I was doing.

"Mark Lang":

You are saying you imported from your old profile. (NO - IMPORT DID NOT WORK!)

When TB did the update to 102.1.2, it should have converted the profile in place and opened with everything as it was already set up. (IT DID CONVERT - then accounts were gone, email was gone, got NOTHING as described above. Acts like a new install on computer that never had Tbird on it before.)

You should not have to import anything. I am not quite sure how you are importing unless you exported the profile earlier. Perhaps the import process is what is messing up your profile. If you tried an import process that did not work for some reason, that might be why it is asking you to set up everything again. Perhaps the import created a new profile that is blank because it did not import properly. I would go to about:profiles like I suggested earlier. Maybe your original profile is still there. If you see multiple profiles, try switching to the other ones to see if your old profile with all your emails is there, just not selected as the current profile.

I have COMPLETE "corrupted" profiles saved on 2 computers - my desktop and laptop. All of the files are there but Version 102 has corrupted them so they won't work on 102 and won't work on earlier version 91.12.0 that I downloaded and installed either - of course.

"Wayne Mery - moderator":

Chetdude,

Your issue is completely unrelated to the original poster, therefore I am locking this topic because it is very hard to properly support multiple issues within the same topic. Please post your own new topic.

Did you really just update to version 102 immediately prior to going on a trip? Old Thunderbird releases can be found at https://releases.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/ Available profiles can be listed by doing Help > More Troubleshooting Info > about:profiles

(DIDN'T HELP.)