How do I 'hide' INBOX in an IMAP connection?
It looks as though I *should* be able to do this by unsubscribing INBOX and leaving the folders I want (Drafts, Sent, Trash) subscribed. Unsubscribing any of the other 3 folders works fine, but INBOX always shows up in the.
Background information as to why I want to do this...
I have a POP3 connection which is my primary connection and works fine when I'm at home. When I'm abroad, my email provider (telus) won't let me send emails using SMTP (I think they only accept incoming requests from specific ranges of IP addresses).
My solution is to set up an IMAP connection to the same email account so I can compose emails using Thunderbird then send them using my provider's webmail interface. It's not ideal, but lets me send emails whilst abroad.
This all works fine, except I now have an extra INBOX in the IMAP connection that I don't want and don't seemto be able to hide (and downloads duplicate emails if I inadvertently click on it).
The other approach I could take would be to use only IMAP, but I couldn't figure out with IMAP how to apply my filters to incoming mail to send them to appropriate local folders and also keep them on the server for 30 days so they're accessible via webmail in an emergency.
Chosen solution
Chris Gravely said
The question you've not answered is whether what I've done is supposed to work. It looks from the documentation as though it should - am I missing something?
As the inbox is an integral part of a mail account, Thunderbird has a default of you having one and I know of no way to "not have one" You could right click it and change to offline setting so it is not downloaded for offline use, so all that would be downloaded when you click the inbox would be enough to send display the mail list, not app the mail.
If data usage is what concerns you, (and international data charges can be steep) you could also set that for the whole IMAP account. Right click the account, not the inbox folder and select properties and in the synchronization and storage turn off the keep message option at the top.
However the simplest approach would be to use a gmail account as sfhowes suggests.
Google instructions are here https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370?hl=en The setting page in your gmail account is here https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#settings/accounts
Additionally you would need to add the SMTP server to Thunderbird so you could use it to send mail.
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What are your settings for the Telus outgoing server? If they don't apply authentication over a secure (SSL) connection, I could see them not working abroad. But if you have smtp.telus.net on port 465, SSL/TLS etc., it should work. If you have those settings and it still doesn't work, I would add a gmail account, and have the Telus account send over the gmail smtp (after adding the Telus account as a 'Send mail as' account in gmail).
If you create a filter to copy incoming mail to Local Folders, the mail will still be on the server for as long as you like, as that is the normal case with IMAP - the mail is stored on the server.
Thanks for the quick response.
My outgoing server is using port 465 with authentication method 'normal password' and security 'SSL/TLS'.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'have the Telus account send over the gmail smtp' and 'after adding the Telus account as a 'Send mail as' account in gmail'.
Would the email still have the telus from address etc. if I did this? If so, that might be a better solution than the one I currently have.
I thought too about a filter copying incoming mail to Local Folders, but I still end up with 2 copies of emails until they're deleted on the server, which is what I was trying to avoid.
The question you've not answered is whether what I've done is supposed to work. It looks from the documentation as though it should - am I missing something?
Modified by Chris Gravely
Chosen Solution
Chris Gravely said
The question you've not answered is whether what I've done is supposed to work. It looks from the documentation as though it should - am I missing something?
As the inbox is an integral part of a mail account, Thunderbird has a default of you having one and I know of no way to "not have one" You could right click it and change to offline setting so it is not downloaded for offline use, so all that would be downloaded when you click the inbox would be enough to send display the mail list, not app the mail.
If data usage is what concerns you, (and international data charges can be steep) you could also set that for the whole IMAP account. Right click the account, not the inbox folder and select properties and in the synchronization and storage turn off the keep message option at the top.
However the simplest approach would be to use a gmail account as sfhowes suggests.
Google instructions are here https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370?hl=en The setting page in your gmail account is here https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#settings/accounts
Additionally you would need to add the SMTP server to Thunderbird so you could use it to send mail.
Chris Gravely said
Thanks for the quick response. My outgoing server is using port 465 with authentication method 'normal password' and security 'SSL/TLS'.
I guess Telus thinks none of their customers send email when they're away from their home countries.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'have the Telus account send over the gmail smtp' and 'after adding the Telus account as a 'Send mail as' account in gmail'. Would the email still have the telus from address etc. if I did this? If so, that might be a better solution than the one I currently have.
First, add the Telus account as a 'Send mail as' account in gmail Settings/Accounts & Import. Then, add the gmail (or other service that offers the 'send as' option) account as IMAP to TB with default settings (OAuth2 authentication, SSL/TLS). Next, select the Telus account in the left pane of Account Settings, and point the Outgoing Server (STMP) in the lower right pane to the gmail smtp server, not the Telus smtp. That way, any mail sent with From: (Telus account) will go through the gmail smtp, but the recipient will see the Telus account as the sender. If you don't add it as a 'Send mail as' account, gmail will make it appear the message was sent from the gmail account.
I thought too about a filter copying incoming mail to Local Folders, but I still end up with 2 copies of emails until they're deleted on the server, which is what I was trying to avoid. The question you've not answered is whether what I've done is supposed to work. It looks from the documentation as though it should - am I missing something?
There may be special cases where it's useful to have a POP and IMAP setup for the same account, but I think you would be better off keeping just the IMAP account, and avoiding the conflicts of different protocols.
Thank you both.
Adding my gmail account to thunderbird and using its SMTP server as a fallback is a much better approach than my current one - I wasn't aware gmail allowed me to send emails on behalf of other accounts.
Chris Gravely said
Thank you both. Adding my gmail account to thunderbird and using its SMTP server as a fallback is a much better approach than my current one - I wasn't aware gmail allowed me to send emails on behalf of other accounts.
But only if the "other account" is registered in your setting on the web with them. They get funny if the complete authorization process they require to salidate you own the account is not followed.