That message is from your mail provider, Thunderbird is just a relay.

So perhaps use another mail provider, but around 150 to 200 is normal these days from domestic connections.

Break the list into two, but you run the risk they have an hourly limit or something as well.

Using the mail merge add-on to send individual mails works for some, but also runs the hourly limit risks.

You could also use a free account with one of the commercial mailers. These folk http://www.ymlp.com/ and http://mailchimp.com/pricing/ both offer free accounts, but read the fine print. They might also harvest your list, I know little about either of them

My group mailings are smaller (22 - 100 recipients), but I too started receiving "too many recipients" messages a few days ago. I assumed that the problem was with Shaw.ca, my email server and phoned them. They said that they hadn't changed anything like that in two years and suggested that I bypass T-bird and try sending from Webmail (which is a bit more time-consuming and awkward), but I was able to send to a large group with no problem, so I guess they were right, THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE WITH THUNDERBIRD.

Do you know if there is any way to go back to the way Thunderbird was functioning before April 28, or must I find a different e-mail program if I want to be able to forward to largish groups from my computer? Thanks, MaxineKL@shaw.ca

Sending via web mail vs using your providers SMTP server is meaningless. All it proves is you know your username and password. It is completely different equipment. Bottom line, there are no sending limits in Thunderbird.

Thanks for your quick reply. If I understand you correctly, you're saying that even though my email is downloaded to Thunderbird from my Shaw webmail, when I send from Thunderbird, it goes by a different pathway, but one that is also controlled by Shaw and not Thunderbird? But I still am suspicious that this has something to do with the latest update to Thunderbird, since the Shaw guy says they haven't made any changes for two years, and this has only been a problem for about three days!

No, what I am saying there is web mail that uses that interface for viewing and sending mail. The the providers have either POP or IMAP servers for downloading incoming mail to email clients like Thunderbird and SMTP servers for sending with a client.

I wish I had a dollar for every Helpless Desk agent that said it was not their fault. Most of them only know to answer the phone when it make a noise.

Thunderbird is software that runs on your computer. Nothing more. It has no control over anything other than helping you connect to your providers server. The error message is coming from YOUR PROVIDERS server.

Thanks very much, Airmail! Even before I received your most recent thorough explanation, I was back on the phone to Shaw. This time the person I spoke to had the sense to check with an advisor. First she checked that all my settings in Thunderbird were okay. She then consulted with her advisor and came back and told me that there had, indeed, been a recent upgrade to the strength of password required, especially, I guess, for sending to multiple addresses. We changed that, and now all is well. Thanks again for putting me on the right track. MaxineKL

Could you possibly expand on what the "recent upgrade to the strength of password required" actually translates to on the ground.

Longer passwords? More number etc. We are only as good as the information we get back when is comes to changes at providers, so knowing exactly what the Shaw change is might well help the next person with an issue.

Re Matt's May 3 post: what the Shaw phone support person told me was that, in addition to being at least 8 characters long ( which mine already was), as of April 28, passwords to access Shaw webmail (including via Thunderbird, etc) must include at least one numeral and at least one symbol. I don't recall if a capital letter was also required or not. Then she walked me through the procedure for changing my password and waited while I aent "test" emails to my longer lists. When I later filled out the survey re how satisfied I was with the service I'd received, I commended the techie but strongly recommended that Shaw make this important change, and future ones as they might arise ,known to customers as well as technical support staff.

Thank you for that.

Just a note here. The error would have been exactly the same had you sent a single email to a single person. The fundamental issue is the age of the email system specifications. In the good old days sending mail required no passwords. Open relays abounded. So the protocols allow for sending mail that way. The nasty upshot of that is you don't always get a bad password error from an SMTP server. A bad password often results in the relay part of the server kicking in and responding you have to many recipients. Leading everyone on a wild goose chase.

Replyong to Matt's of May 7: actually, I initially had no trouble sending to smaller nimbers: even the group of 16 recipients pulled from the larger group went out okay. Only a couple of days later did the problem extend to all outgoing mail. One of the mysteries of the Internet?

Certainly is one of those Mysteries. But knowing Shaw now requires strong passwords is most helpful, thank you

And thanks for all your input. I wouldn't have known to ask Shaw the right questions otherwise.