This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Buscar en Ayuda

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Thunderbird is "not responding"

  • 14 respuestas
  • 6 tienen este problema
  • 23 visitas
  • Última respuesta de Wayne Mery

more options

Hi I am having problems with Thunderbird, i’m not sure if it’s to do with a windows 11 update or something else. Thunderbird is not responding also at the start of the ‘not responding’ emails from one of my accounts disappeared and then gradually started to reappear but didn’t get up to date and now just not responding st all. I have tried various things to resolve this, uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird, doing this and opening my pc in safe mode, doing this and opening Thunderbird in safe mode. Deleting and reinstalling the latest windows 11 update, reinstalling the latest Thunderbird update. I don’t know what to try next? I read somewhere to delete your profile, after saving it, and getting a new profile but no idea how to do this. Any help appreciated.

Hi I am having problems with Thunderbird, i’m not sure if it’s to do with a windows 11 update or something else. Thunderbird is not responding also at the start of the ‘not responding’ emails from one of my accounts disappeared and then gradually started to reappear but didn’t get up to date and now just not responding st all. I have tried various things to resolve this, uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird, doing this and opening my pc in safe mode, doing this and opening Thunderbird in safe mode. Deleting and reinstalling the latest windows 11 update, reinstalling the latest Thunderbird update. I don’t know what to try next? I read somewhere to delete your profile, after saving it, and getting a new profile but no idea how to do this. Any help appreciated.

Modificadas por Wayne Mery el

Todas las respuestas (14)

more options

What's your OS?

opening my pc in safe mode, doing this and opening Thunderbird in safe mode.

And what happened then?

more options

Hi OS is Microsoft Windows Thunderbird opened but curser just spinning and then Thunderbird not responding message again. No emails downloading.

more options

What is your anti-virus software?

Try to start Windows 10 in safe mode with networking enabled.

Does the problem go away?

Windows safe mode disables anti-virus software. This is a troubleshooting step, not a solution.

Modificadas por christ1 el

more options

Thanks, I'll try that

more options

I have a new protection recently installed by Microsoft, Microsoft Defender. My main protection is Malwarebytes.

more options

I have removed Microsoft Defender and then tried starting my PC in safe mode, Thunderbird still not responding.

more options
I have a new protection recently installed by Microsoft, Microsoft Defender.

Windows 10 and 11 have Microsoft Defender built-in. What do you mean with "I have a new protection recently installed ..., Microsoft Defender". Which version of Windows are you running?

My main protection is Malwarebytes.

I'd rather stick with Defender, and get rid of Malwarebytes.

I have removed Microsoft Defender and then tried starting my PC in safe mode, Thunderbird still not responding.

Can you confirm you did start Windows in safe mode with networking enabled?

more options

The safe mode instructions are https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode

Also, in Windows safe mode, start Thunderbird in Troubleshoot Mode - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-mode-thunderbird

Does problem change?

more options

Hi Thank you for this, I hadn't been doing the correct safe mode start up. I followed your instructions and Thunderbird loaded Ok and I could access 2 of my accounts the 3rd was 'not responding' but then opened Ok. I closed it down then opened up again and all was Ok. It is now working as normal not in safe mode.

What is it that causes this problem?

more options
What is it that causes this problem?

Most likely your anti-virus software. To avoid problems in the future create an exception in your anti-virus software (or an exclusion in case of Windows Defender) for the Thunderbird profile folder, so that the anti-virus real-time scanner will not scan it. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_how-to-find-your-profile

I closed it down then opened up again and all was Ok. It is now working as normal not in safe mode.

Without creating an exception it's quite likely that the problem will return.

more options

The (Not Responding) issue has been happening for a while now. Not sure when it started, but I'm pretty sure it mostly happens when I'm downloading email, and typically when I get to my desk in the morning, which surprises me, because I leave TB running 24/7 pretty much, and the emails didn't all just start downloading when I sat down.

I have six IMAP accounts set up, and yes, some have as much as 4.5 GB, but the accounts that generally get deluged with the most emails overnight are the accounts that are kept to under 50 emails in the inbox, total.

One would think that TB would be multi-threaded so one could write an email without having to wait for up to five minutes while TB is dealing with whatever it's dealing with. I heard this was going to happen back in 2021, but I don't see where to turn that on in settings.

Running 115.10.1 (32-bit) on Windows 10 Pro version 22H2

BTW, if you do a search for "Not Responding" on this forum website you will find nearly 2,000 threads. Not a good sign.

Modificadas por Mik Muller el

more options

Mik Muller,

please start a new topic for your problem. https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new

more options

a.allison269, did the exception help you?

more options

@mik, also do https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1446103#answer-1651911 before filing your own topic.