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How can I show my network emails in Thunderbird under Linux?

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by fweihs

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I recently converted to Linux and installed Thunderbird under Linux. My local folders show up of course, but my network folders (Inbox, Sent, etc.) do not show so I cannot send or receive emails. Can you suggest what is causing this problem?

Thanks.

I recently converted to Linux and installed Thunderbird under Linux. My local folders show up of course, but my network folders (Inbox, Sent, etc.) do not show so I cannot send or receive emails. Can you suggest what is causing this problem? Thanks.

All Replies (5)

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What do you mean by "network folders"? What do you mean by "local folders"?

Did you transfer the Thunderbird profile from your previous system?

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Zenos said

What do you mean by "network folders"? What do you mean by "local folders"? Did you transfer the Thunderbird profile from your previous system?
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By network I mean the Inbox, Sent, Drafts, etc. that are present with the installation. Local are the additional folders I set up just on my own computer to store e-mails I've received or sent.

No I didn't transfer my profile. I'll try that and see if that solves it. Thanks for the response.

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I don't understand how you expect Thunderbird to show your email accounts unless you set them up, either from scratch or by using an existing profile.

Please bear in mind that Thunderbird has a "special" account named Local Folders, so in this forum if you say "local folders" it will be assumed that you are referring to that special account. What you set up for yourself in your file system is almost entirely irrelevant to the working of an email client.

If your copied profile was stored in the default location, and you don't have any addons then it ought to "just work". It won't like the Lightning you had installed for Windows but it will tell you about incompatibility and prompt you to sort out an appropriate version. Note that if you use the Thunderbird bundled with your distro, it will tweak the update process, and expect you to get both Thunderbird and Lightning via your software package manager (apt, yum, etc).

Most addons and themes will work regardless of OS, but a few have bad habits such as using absolute pathnames to locate their resource files and so won't be able to use Windows style pathnames in Linux.

Which distro have you chosen? I have tried Ubuntu, Mint, LMDE and am now on MX Linux.

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Thanks Zenos. Yes the local folders are the ones I created myself. It is the regular Inbox, Sent, Drafts, etc. that are not showing up. I will check that my profile was transferred correctly, and also the issue you mention with Lightning. The distro I am using is Mint.