T-bird's gone a tad cuckoo

May 3, 2006 10:30 AM

Thunderbird: it likes to tell me that there's mail I don't have.

Every ten minutes or so, the 'bird (latest build) will notify me of x new messages in my inbox, yet display squat new mail in the inbox or junk drawer. Not a big problem, but an annoyance I couldn't track down in MozillaZine. Thanks in advance!

posted by moonbird to computers & internet (6 comments total)

POP or IMAP account?
posted by Zozo at 10:36 AM on May 3, 2006

I've just installed Thunderbird and had the same problem - in the account settings -> server settings, there's an option to check mail, and also an option to automatically download it. I had the first checked, but not the second, so that Thunderbird was querying the server, identifying that there was new mail, but not doing anything else about it. You need to tell it to fetch the mail as well, not just notify you that it's there.
posted by nylon at 11:23 AM on May 3, 2006

TBird also likes to tell you wit IMAP that previusly read messages are "new" even if they are marked as read, but were read outside of TBird.

It also has an annoying habit of telling me that I have X + 1 new messages, when I really have 1 new message and X previously new (but still unread) messages.

Also, file a bug if you confirm that it is one. Searching bugzilla for TBird issues can be more helpful that MozillaZine; if it is a bug, it's likely known and currently in line for a fix in some future build.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:27 PM on May 3, 2006

Another possibility is that it's interacting with your filters. I set up a filter to move all email from my boss into a separate folder so that I wouldn't miss any, so quite frequently it will tell me that I have a message in my main account, and then by the time I go to look it will move the message out of my main account.

This also happens with many anti-spam filters that I've manually set up.
posted by Squid Voltaire at 12:28 PM on May 3, 2006

Yeah, I had this problem for a while, and it drove me crazy. Eventually, I found I had a filter set up that marked some mail as read. I realised the mail was reaching my inboxes, I just couldn't tell where it had gone after the 'downloading x messages' thing.
posted by matthewr at 1:13 PM on May 3, 2006

It doesn't take much network traffic to check for mail, so if it's set this way, Thunderbird can tell you when new stuff is available without affecting your connection much. This is a big plus on slow dialup links.

All you have to do when you're told you have some is open up the Thunderbird window and click "Get Mail".

If you're on a fast link, just check "Automatically download new mail" under Tools->Account Settings.

Another handy setting for slow network links is in Account Settings under Disk Space: you can tell Thunderbird not to download messages larger than some preset size (I use 100k). Messages bigger than that still show up in the Inbox, and if you've turned on the Size column you can see how big they're supposed to be; but if you open them, you get just the first few lines and a clickable link to download the rest. This is a big help if you have Unfortunate Internet Friends who still think it's a good idea to forward the Five Megabyte PowerPoint Attachment Forwarded Email Joke du jour.
posted by flabdablet at 4:09 PM on May 3, 2006