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Thunderbird disabling check for new messages does not appear to work

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 19 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

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I have only one account defined in Thunderbird. I right-click on this account and select context menu item Settings to display the Account Settings dialog. In the Accounts Settings dialog I select the sub-item Server Settings. On the Server Settings page I unselect "Check for new messages every 10 minutes". However, if Thunderbird is left open, new messages appear in the Inbox as though messages are still being checked. This gives me the impression that disabling "Check for new messages every 10 minutes" does not work.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (updated daily); Thunderbird 52.1.1 (64-bit) (this version installed a couple days ago)

I have only one account defined in Thunderbird. I right-click on this account and select context menu item Settings to display the Account Settings dialog. In the Accounts Settings dialog I select the sub-item Server Settings. On the Server Settings page I unselect "Check for new messages every 10 minutes". However, if Thunderbird is left open, new messages appear in the Inbox as though messages are still being checked. This gives me the impression that disabling "Check for new messages every 10 minutes" does not work. Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (updated daily); Thunderbird 52.1.1 (64-bit) (this version installed a couple days ago)

All Replies (5)

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if Thunderbird is left open, new messages appear in the Inbox

This is how it's supposed to work. I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve and why. Please explain.

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Christ1,

> This is how it's supposed to work. I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve and why. Please explain.

I expect if I select "Check for new messages every 10 minutes" that new messages will automatically appear in the Inbox.

I expect if I unselect "Check for new messages every 10 minutes" that new messages will not automatically appear in the Inbox.

I have unselected "Check for new messages every 10 minutes" and new messages are still appearing.

I only want new messages to appear when I click "Get Messages" button.

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What is your account type - POP or IMAP? And it would certainly help if you could explain why you want it that way.

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Matt,

> What is your account type

IMAP

> could explain why you want it that way

Just personal preference. I often deal with emails with large datasets attached; I often am at locations with extremely slow Internet connections; I am often traveling with short periods of Internet connection available to me.

But lets flip this around. What do you think is the purpose of Accounts Settings option "Check for new messages every 10 minutes"?

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If the IMAP server supports IDLE commands, it will download messages as they arrive at the server, irrespective of the 'Check...' setting. You may wish to have the account set up as POP to have more control, or if you keep it IAMP and have sporadic network connections, set the account to automatically download (synchronize) headers only and download message bodies manually. The setting is under Tools/Account Settings/accountname/Synchronization & Storage/Message Synchronizing.