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The contents of my inbox and other folders have disappeared from view. How can I get them back?

  • 3 replies
  • 4 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Coylej

Coylej
Coylej
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My inbox and all my folders are suddenly showing no mails. If I receive a new email the number of mails (next to the inbox folder, in brackets) goes up but I can't see the new mail (except for the snapshot you get of the first lines of new mails, after pressing GET MESSAGES). I'm not aware of having done anything that would cause this "disappearance".

I can write and send mail but can't see inbound messages.

I'd be grateful for any help as I am lost without my mail system :-(

My inbox and all my folders are suddenly showing no mails. If I receive a new email the number of mails (next to the inbox folder, in brackets) goes up but I can't see the new mail (except for the snapshot you get of the first lines of new mails, after pressing GET MESSAGES). I'm not aware of having done anything that would cause this "disappearance". I can write and send mail but can't see inbound messages. I'd be grateful for any help as I am lost without my mail system :-(

Chosen solution

It looks to me as if you have hidden, removed or collapsed all the regular columns. The column with the tiny square icon at the top is normally at the right.

If you click it, does it show a list of checkboxes? Are they all unticked? Does anything change if you tick any of them?

Or try moving your cursor around that column to see if you can get a grab/resizer indicator on it, then grab it and drag it to the right.

Another thing to try is to start Thunderbird in Safe Mode; if there are any customizations or adjustments causing your problem they should be disabled by Safe Mode.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/safe-mode-thunderbird?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=safe-mode

Read this answer in context 👍 2

All Replies (3)

Coylej
Coylej Question owner
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROBLEM - I've added a screenshot which shows the folders, and two new folders that have appeared: an archive folder and NSTMP.

Zenos
Zenos
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Chosen Solution

It looks to me as if you have hidden, removed or collapsed all the regular columns. The column with the tiny square icon at the top is normally at the right.

If you click it, does it show a list of checkboxes? Are they all unticked? Does anything change if you tick any of them?

Or try moving your cursor around that column to see if you can get a grab/resizer indicator on it, then grab it and drag it to the right.

Another thing to try is to start Thunderbird in Safe Mode; if there are any customizations or adjustments causing your problem they should be disabled by Safe Mode.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/safe-mode-thunderbird?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=safe-mode

Coylej
Coylej Question owner
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Zeno - thank you, thank you, thank you! I had somehow reduced the column width to zero so your grab/resize idea fixed it immediately. (It is all so obvious when it is pointed out - but just didn't occur to me).

I'm really grateful for your help.

Warm regards

John