Cross-pollinating email Sent accounts? Sent email from one accounts gets saved in both the original and another ...
For some email accounts that I have (but apparently only the Gmail-based IMAP accounts), the message I send from one of these Gmail-based accounts gets saved not only in that account's Sent folder but in another Gmail-based account's Sent folder (typically the same 'other' account). And, when I examine the Sent By of the copied email message in the other Gmail-based account's Sent folder, the sent copy email shows that account's address and not the original email's address.
It's as if the second account is sending out the same message somehow. I hope not. It's odd and unnerving, because I am afraid recipients are receiving two emails from me. Or, it could simply be that some Thunderbird setting or quirk from coding, is putting that message in the other account's Sent folder using that account's address but not actually sending out the email.
What to do? Where to check? How to solve?
Chosen solution
Gmail automatically substitutes the account of the sending smtp server if the sending account is not the same as the smtp account, i.e. if you send from user1@gmail through the smtp that has User Name user2@gmail, the recipient will see the sender as user2.
Tools/Account Settings, select an account in the left pane, then look at Outgoing Server (SMTP) in the lower right pane. Click Edit SMTP server and see if the User Name of the smtp is different from the User Name of the selected account. Each account should send through an smtp with the same User Name. You may have to create separate smtp servers, each with a distinct Description, with the same settings except for User Name, in Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom left of Account Settings.
Note also that gmail automatically copies sent messages to Sent, so 'Place a copy in' in Copies & Folders should be unchecked.
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Gmail automatically substitutes the account of the sending smtp server if the sending account is not the same as the smtp account, i.e. if you send from user1@gmail through the smtp that has User Name user2@gmail, the recipient will see the sender as user2.
Tools/Account Settings, select an account in the left pane, then look at Outgoing Server (SMTP) in the lower right pane. Click Edit SMTP server and see if the User Name of the smtp is different from the User Name of the selected account. Each account should send through an smtp with the same User Name. You may have to create separate smtp servers, each with a distinct Description, with the same settings except for User Name, in Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom left of Account Settings.
Note also that gmail automatically copies sent messages to Sent, so 'Place a copy in' in Copies & Folders should be unchecked.
The Default smtp server is usually the server associated with the Default account, the one at the top of Account Settings. But it's not necessary, and is actually counterproductive, to have every account send through it, especially with gmail. That might have worked in the past, but today's authentication standards make it mostly obsolete.
The IMAP Sent folder is accessible in TB if the folder is subscribed (right-click the account, Subscribe...).
Re: Default SMTP server Not sure what to do with the Default account. Is there a way to avoid it, to keep any account from possible going through it? Or, should I set some other account as the Default? Or, perhaps set Google Mail - smtp.gmail.com as the Default?
Re: subscribe ... thanks; good to know that's the way to ensure I am receiving copies of emails in the various Gmail folders, such as Sent, after unchecking Place a Copy in Sent folder in the TB panel.
Modified by Mozilla_Foxes_and_Birds_are_Best
The Default incoming account is the account that is used when you click a mailto link on a web page or invoke Send to - Mail recipient in Explorer. The Default smtp is arbitrary if you have each account sending through the correct server, as described above. Default smtp is relevant for things like replying to a newsgroup post.
Re: unchecking Place a Copy ...
I've looked into Gmail's auto save into its own Sent folder and what happens when you check the Placing a Copy into the email account option. What I see is that Gmail autosaves into the Gmail account Sent folder listed at the top left panel seen when I go into the account via a browser, and a Sent folder named [imap]/Sent appears further down. This is the one created when the Place a Copy is checked.
On the other hand, when you view your accounts in Thunderbird and not via a Web browser, and if you set your View (menu item) to All, the first occurrence of the Sent folder in your left panel is where you'll find emails as a result of checking Place a Copy into the account. This folder corresponds to the [imap]/Sent seen in the browser view of your Gmail account. The second occurrence of the Sent folder is listed under the Gmail folder and is called Sent Mail. This corresponds to the Sent folder when viewing the Gmail account via a Web browser.
To be clear, the Sent folder created by Place a Copy appears in first position in your TB left side panel but it appears as [imap]/Sent within the Gmail account.
Modified by Mozilla_Foxes_and_Birds_are_Best
When you set View/Folders/Unified, the first Sent folder contains messages placed as a result of checking Place a Copy; the second one called Sent Mail, contains messages that are autosaved by Gmail and appear in the top most Sent folder when viewed online via a Web browser.
Questions remains ... does one bother to 'clean up' the Sent folder which resulted from checking Place a Copy? In the meantime, I am choosing to leave them be, now that I understand them. Perhaps later, I will move those posted in the Sent over to the Sent Mail folder as the one and only 'sent' folder.
Any other recommendations?
A complete list of gmail recommendations is here:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_Gmail_with_Thunderbird_and_Mozilla_Suite
Among them is to 'Just mark it as deleted' for 'When I delete a message' in Server Settings, and to unsubscribe All Mail.