Help topic "Unify your POP email accounts with a global inbox"
I'd suggest that you remove this topic from the Help topics because it does not seem to apply to Thunderbird 78+ anymore; apparently the "View" "Folders unified" option takes care of this, and the description is confusing because this version of TB is laid out quite differently. I spent quite a bit of time on figuring out the real process on TB 78, then it did not really work (after restart all the individual boxes were still there- no global inbox under "Local Folders"). Finally, when searching for more help on this, the thread "Thunderbird 78+, Missing "All Mails Folder"" seemed to reveal that all of that was unnecssary. If other version of TB still need the "Global folders" instructions, it would be nice if there was a clear note included that TB 78+ handles this much simpler - which is great! Thank you for all your hard work! E.-A. Gutt
All Replies (3)
It would seem you are not aware of the difference.
Deferred Accounts commonly known as 'Global Inbox' are only for pop accounts. It means creating deferred accounts where the pop mail accounts all use the 'Local Folders' mail account to receive emails.
The pop mail accounts are not listed in the Folder Pane and do not have their own individual account folders.
Senario: If someone had three pop accounts and set them all up as 'Deferred Accounts' using the 'Global Inbox' in 'Local Folders' then the only account seen in Folder Pane would be 'Local Folders' mail account and there would only be one Inbox that received all incoming emails from all three pop accounts.
Imap accounts cannot be set up as deferred accounts using a Global Inbox in 'Local Folders' as imap account folders synchronise with individual server folders.
Unified Folders has always been an option in Thunderbird - it is not new and can be used on both Pop and Imap mail accounts where Pop accounts have been created to use their own folders.
Unified folders merely creates a virtual folder to display all eg: Inbox emails in one virtual folder as well as continuing to display them individually as subfolders. Unified folders can be instantly changed back to showing 'All' folders.
The two methods are not the same.
Info: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Global_Inbox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/unify-your-pop-email-accounts-global-inbox
Thank you, Toad-Hall - very helpful explanation. It is still true, though, that the instructions for Global Inbox on the website do not apply to TB 78+, esp. not the screenshots. Here are the instructions I worked out for myself for TB 78+: 1. Select one of the accounts from the left pane to add to a global inbox. 2. Click “account settings” on the top right. 3. Go to “server Settings” under the account selected in the left pane. 4. Go to “Message storage”, click “advanced”. 5. In dialogue box, select “inbox for different account”, then open drop down list, and select “Global inbox” (Local Folders) 6. Also tick “Include this server when getting new mail”. 7. Click “OK” – if you have already transferred any messages from this account to a temporary folder; otherwise “cancel” and carry out that step first 8. TB will return to account setting menu. Restart TB - the deferred account will no longer appear as separate Folder on the left and messages from it but be in a general "Inbox".. 9. It appears one can only defer one account at a time and then needs to restart TB before choosing another account to defer!
This will probably need checking by s.o. more knowledgeable; if ok, it might help others. (I tried to defer 4 accounts to the Global Inbox, following the instructions, and then re-started TB - only the first account was in the Local Folder - the others remained separately.) Thanks again E.-A. Gutt
You will find that a lot of the Help Articles are not showing up to date version 78 imagery, as these Help Articles are usually updated by volunteers in their spare time and there is a lot of Help Articles with new ones being created all the time. But usually the information is still relevant as process is identical.
Some of the Help Articles were written by a person using a MAC OS and so will also seem a little different from someone using Windows.
I suppose those articles that see a more major change will always be edited as a priority.