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Downloaded Gmail to Thunderbird: emails in different locations/folders

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

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When I downloaded and sync Gmail to thunderbird, I encountered the following issues:

1. The number of emails on ALL MAIL folder is not the same as that in my Gmail. Thunderbird has more than 800 emails compared to my Gmail.

2. When I randomly check my emails through the search function, the emails can not be found on the location it states thy are. Ex. location=all mail , but when I search ALL mail , the email in not there.

3. SAME Email but the timestamp in Thunderbird is 1 minute less than the time stamp in the Gmail. Ex. In Gmail time stamp is 11:04 am , in thunderbird it is 11:03am

4. Also can I change the Date Pattern in Thunderbird from DD/MM/YYYY to MM/DD/YYYY?

Thank you!

When I downloaded and sync Gmail to thunderbird, I encountered the following issues: 1. The number of emails on ALL MAIL folder is not the same as that in my Gmail. Thunderbird has more than 800 emails compared to my Gmail. 2. When I randomly check my emails through the search function, the emails can not be found on the location it states thy are. Ex. location=all mail , but when I search ALL mail , the email in not there. 3. SAME Email but the timestamp in Thunderbird is 1 minute less than the time stamp in the Gmail. Ex. In Gmail time stamp is 11:04 am , in thunderbird it is 11:03am 4. Also can I change the Date Pattern in Thunderbird from DD/MM/YYYY to MM/DD/YYYY? Thank you!

All Replies (2)

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Most people do not bother with subscribing to see the 'All Mail' as you already have all those emails shown in other folders, so basiclly your entire profile is at least twice the size it needs to be. But it is your choice, after all everything you archive is also in that 'All Mail' folder.

Suggest you try rebuilding the index.

  • Right click on 'All Mail' folder and select 'Properties'
  • click on 'Repair folder'
  • click on 'Ok'

Remember - as you have double the amount in that profile which probably includes a large 'All Mail' text file, I would advise you compact the 'All Mail' folder manually.

Right click on 'All Mail' folder and select 'Compact' because anything you have deleted may still be in the file, just hidden from view which is making it larger than required and more prone to error.

Do not allow any Anti-Virus to scan any of your Thunderbird profile folders/files because they are not very good at realising that one single mbox file actually contains all your emails - if you lose anything in that 'All Mail' folder then it may get deleted off server when you synchronise and you could end up losing everything because gmail keeps everything in just the one 'All Mail' folder.

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re :Also can I change the Date Pattern in Thunderbird from DD/MM/YYYY to MM/DD/YYYY?

DD/MM/YYYY is typically used in eg: UK MM/DD/YYYY is typically used in eg: USA

Thunderbird uses the date/time setting as per your operating system. Exit Thunderbird

Alter the computer date setting. In windows 10 - type 'date' in search and select 'Date and time settings' select 'date, time and regional formatting' You could try changing the 'Regional Format' to the United States OR under 'Related Settings' at the bottom - select 'Additional date, time & regional settings' under 'Region; click on chnage date, time or number formats' Change the 'Short Date' as per requirements - please note it does alter computer date as well. click on Apply and OK


Start Thunderbird.