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Why doesn't my spam folder have the flame icon

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  • Last reply by Zenos

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I have 2 accounts set up in Thunderbird. The Spam folder for the second account, nandilicious@aol.com, has a little icon next to it that looks like a little flame. My primary email, patterehak@aol.com, has a Spam folder but it doesn't have the flame icon, it just has an icon that looks like a folder. I would really rather have the flame icon there but can't figure out a way to change it from the folder icon. I tried adding/removing the Spam folder completely and creating it again, but it still came up with the folder icon instead of the flame. Then I uninstalled Thunderbird, downloaded it from the website and reinstalled it, but when I opened the program, the Spam folder still didn't have the little flame next to it. I don't understand why one of my accounts shows the flame icon next to Spam but the other one doesn't. Help!

I have 2 accounts set up in Thunderbird. The Spam folder for the second account, nandilicious@aol.com, has a little icon next to it that looks like a little flame. My primary email, patterehak@aol.com, has a Spam folder but it doesn't have the flame icon, it just has an icon that looks like a folder. I would really rather have the flame icon there but can't figure out a way to change it from the folder icon. I tried adding/removing the Spam folder completely and creating it again, but it still came up with the folder icon instead of the flame. Then I uninstalled Thunderbird, downloaded it from the website and reinstalled it, but when I opened the program, the Spam folder still didn't have the little flame next to it. I don't understand why one of my accounts shows the flame icon next to Spam but the other one doesn't. Help!

Chosen solution

Your email provider sets up and populates the spam folder and Thunderbird doesn't necessarily know that it is a junk folder. Note that Thunderbird uses the term Junk and and a Junk folder for its own purposes.

So what appears in the Spam folder has been categorized as such by your email provider and this may (or may not) agree with what Thunderbird Junk Controls would make of it. If you disagree with any email there being Spam, you need to discover what tools your email provider has given you to whitelist trusted senders. Sometimes (e.g. gmail) it's as simple as moving the message back to the Inbox.

There is a way to mark the Spam folder as a Junk folder so it gets its own little flame icon, though I'm not sure this would be particularly useful to you.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/folderflags/

I am using this add-on successfully with TB50.0b1, so don't pay too much attention to the "works with" advice. It adds a new tab to the folder's Properties section, where you can tick one of several boxes to apply particular traits to the selected folder. Setting your Spam folder as a Junk folder will confer upon it the flame icon, and probably include it into Unified Folder views of junk folders. Or you might set the Spam folder as the account's preferred Junk folder.

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The flame icon indicates the folder Thunderbird places junk mail (SPAM) Right click your account in the folder pane, select settings Select the Junk Setting for the account and correct the folder used for Junk.

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Thank you, Matt, but I wasn't talking about my Junk folder. It already has the flame icon. I'm talking about my Spam folder, which is right below the Junk folder...I have Junk, then Spam, then Trash. My 2nd account has the flame icon for BOTH the Junk folder and the Spam folder. But my main account only has the flame icon next to the Junk folder. I've already looked at my Junk settings and they are set up correctly. I just can't figure out the SPAM icon. Like I said, both Junk and Spam have the flame for my secondary account but the Junk flame is not there on my primary account. Is there a way I can change the icon on my primary account (patterehak@aol.com)?

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Chosen Solution

Your email provider sets up and populates the spam folder and Thunderbird doesn't necessarily know that it is a junk folder. Note that Thunderbird uses the term Junk and and a Junk folder for its own purposes.

So what appears in the Spam folder has been categorized as such by your email provider and this may (or may not) agree with what Thunderbird Junk Controls would make of it. If you disagree with any email there being Spam, you need to discover what tools your email provider has given you to whitelist trusted senders. Sometimes (e.g. gmail) it's as simple as moving the message back to the Inbox.

There is a way to mark the Spam folder as a Junk folder so it gets its own little flame icon, though I'm not sure this would be particularly useful to you.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/folderflags/

I am using this add-on successfully with TB50.0b1, so don't pay too much attention to the "works with" advice. It adds a new tab to the folder's Properties section, where you can tick one of several boxes to apply particular traits to the selected folder. Setting your Spam folder as a Junk folder will confer upon it the flame icon, and probably include it into Unified Folder views of junk folders. Or you might set the Spam folder as the account's preferred Junk folder.