Do you compact folders after deleting several emails ? If no then those files may have got quite large. Start by manually compacting the Inbox then the Drafts, then Spam/Junk or any other folder where you have deleted a load of emails OR indeed moved a load of emails. Right clickon folder and select 'Compact' - it should offer info in the bottom Status bar.

If you are using an imap account then there is a lot of jibber jabber between imap account and server. Everytime you delete something that file is accessed and so is the Trash.

Then there is the issue of Anti-Virus program which also update on a regular basis. All too frequently, the AV program causes all sorts of slow down. If you have an AV scanning every file that gets opened and every file that gets uploaded etc then it will slow down the process. I would start by stopping Anti-Virus from scanning your profile files each time they get opened.

If you have your profile in the default location then this is the 'Thunderbird' folder you need to make exempt from scanning that folder or any of it's folders and files contained therein. C://Users/user name/Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird

Yes, I'm compacting regularly. More importantly, I'm not doing anything different than what I've been doing all along. It just recently started taking far longer to function.

What OS are you using ? What version of Thunderbird are you using ? What Anti-Virus are you using ? Have you excluded the Thunderbird profile from being scanned ?

I have this exact same issue - and it seems to have appeared at the same time as the OP. Again, I've been using Tbird for years and suddenly, at least 5 seconds to do ANYTHING. Don't bother with those above instructions. Clearly an issue has arisen in the code. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird and have deleted most of my inbox contents.

I use Windows 10 64 bit and the matching Thunderbird version. I only use MS vanilla Defender antivirus.

Sorry; I didn't mean to start this thread and bail; I got sick.

I think I might have identified the issue. It's indirectly related to Toad-Hall's questions/suggestions.

When the most recent major update happened, it screwed up all the existing filters. I vaguely remember this, and having to reconstruct everything. What I'd forgotten is that it's apparently no longer possible to set a filter to delete the contents of a given folder based on AGE.

So, where I DID have a filter deleting messages from the trash folder as soon as they hit 30 days old, now it's apparently necessary to MANUALLY DELETE old mail from the trash folder every day. (Which is an added pain, since the update also changed the ability to use the global inbox, so that now I have FOUR trash folder to empty.)

I'm pretty unimpressed with Thunderbird's recent changes, and would dearly love to find an alternative to jump ship to, but in the meantime, deleting all the old mail after I trash it has reduced the lag. (Apparently it just took this long for that backlog to build up to sufficient volume to be noticeable.)

deleting all the old mail after I trash it has reduced the lag. (Apparently it just took this long for that backlog to build up to sufficient volume to be noticeable.)

Do you mean simply emptying the Trash folder? Or do you mean deleting old mail from Inbox? On the order of how many messages - tens of thousands, thousands, or just hundreds?

I mean deleting trash from the trash folder. I get a few hundred emails a day, so that's how fast the trash folder accrues messages.

(I like to keep my deleted messages in the trash folder for about a month, in case I discover I deleted something by accident or something like that. Just had to retrieve one yesterday, actually, that was deleted by mistake. But I obviously don't want to keep deleted messages in the trash folder forever.)

re :I DID have a filter deleting messages from the trash folder as soon as they hit 30 days old,

Do you mean the following:

• Right click on 'Trash' folder and select 'Properties'
• Select 'Retention Policy' tab
• Uncheck 'Use my account settings'
• Select 'Delete messages more than 30 days old'
• Click on 'OK'

Are you talking about an Imap or Pop account ? If imap: Many servers now auto empty the server Trash folder after a period of time and this does vary. Some delete after a couple of days, others after a week and others like gmail do it every 30 days. Might be useful to know what server you are using - maybe to check on it's rules for auto deleting spam and trash.

The manual method:

• Right click on Trash folder and select 'Empty Deleted'

You could select the option to empty the Trash when you Exit Thunderbird, but if you want them for a month perhaps not the best option. But just in case someone else want to know about it...

• In Account Settings
• Select 'Server SEttings' for account
• Look bottom right - select 'Empty Deleted folder on exit'

re :the update also changed the ability to use the global inbox,

Not sure what you mean - that's probably a different question - but it might be helpful to know why you would use global search to empty the Trash ?

Augh! Yes! I guess I set this up so long ago that I didn't remember they weren't filters like everything else.

As for the other, I'm not talking about search; I'm talking about what they call the "global inbox" -- the ability to have only one inbox that all email addresses dump into. I have four email addresses. I used to be able to use ONE set of folders for all of them.

But as of the last major update, it apparently won't allow me to do that anymore. Every single email address must be set up with its own separate inbox, trash folder, etc. So I now have to delete old deleted emails from FOUR trash folders instead of one.

re : I'm talking about what they call the "global inbox"

"it apparently won't allow me to do that anymore....Every single email address must be set up with its own separate inbox, trash folder, etc. "

After update nothing should have changed, you should not have needed to add any accounts. But it's still possible to set up Global Inbox because I've got one pop account that is set up to use it - not that it's necessary, but I have one which I use to test etc.

However, Only Pop mail accounts can use the 'global Inbox' set up. If you have set up an IMAP mail accounts then they cannot be set up as deferred accounts. But at this point I have no idea whether you currently have Pop or Imap accounts.

How can you tell whether you use Pop or Imap:

• In Account Settings
• Select 'Server Settings' for the account
• Look top right for 'Server Type:' and it will say either IMAP Mail Server or Pop Mail Server.

When pop mail accounts are set up as deferred accounts to use the 'Global Inbox (Local Folders)'... Those pop mail accounts are not seen in the Folder Pane; they do not have their own set of folders. All incoming mail is auto directed into 'Local Folders' Inbox folder.

You mention "I have four email addresses", but you did not say whether all four are Pop mail accounts. IF you have Pop mail accounts and you want all incoming mail to go into 'Local Folders' Inbox. Basically see just one account and one set of folders.

Then do this. 1. Go into 'Offline mode to stop any further downloads. Either use the shortcut - On bottom Status bar - far left clickon the online/offline icon which has a tooltip 'You are currently online'. OR File > Offline > Work Offline

2. In Folder Pane - if any of those Pop mail accounts have any emails in any of it's own folders then move those emails in to the Local Folders' account in suitably named folders. You need to do this because you are about to remove all those accounts and their folders from being visible.

3. For each pop mail account/email address do this: In Account Settings

• Select 'Server Settings' for the pop account
• Look bottom right for the 'Advanced' button and click on it.
• Select 'Inbox for different account' and choose 'Global Inbox (Local Folders)'
• Select checkbox 'Include this server when getting new mail'
• Click on 'OK'

Now check that account is pointing to correct folders.

• Select 'Copies & Folders'
• Select 'Place a copy in'
• Select: 'Other' and choose relevant folder in 'Local Folders' eg: 'Sent on Local Folders',

• Do the same for 'Archives', 'Drafts', 'Templates'

• Select 'Junk Settings'
• Select 'Enable adaptive junkmail controls for this account'
• Select all the address books you want to use as a whitelist.
• Select 'Move new junk messages to'
• Select 'Other' and choose 'Junk on Local Folders'

Repeat the above for every Pop account. When finished, you must restart Thunderbird before you go online.

So Exit Thunderbird. Wait a few moments for background processes to complete Start Thunderbird.

It may restart automatically in online mode, but if it does not - clickon that offline/online icon located in the bottom Status bar and all should be ok.

If you have followed instructions, you should only see the 'Local Folders' account in the Folder Pane. All pop accounts should have disappeared. If you have any Imap mail acounts they will still display their own account name and own set of folders.

Yeah; it wouldn't let me set up the accounts as POP accounts anymore that were POP accounts prior to the update.

I have this exact same issue - and it seems to have appeared at the same time as the OP. Again, I've been using Tbird for years and suddenly, at least 5 seconds to do ANYTHING. Don't bother with those above instructions. Clearly an issue has arisen in the code. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird and have deleted most of my inbox contents. I use Windows 10 64 bit and the matching Thunderbird version. I only use MS vanilla Defender antivirus.

Since this post, I have found that the automatic compacting of my main inbox hadn't been happening. Although I deleted most of the years and years of clutter in there, that didn't help However I noticed that the slowdown wasn't occurring in my small sub-folders so I ran the compaction on the main ibox and it has fixed the slowdown issue as well as the long delay when deleting. Much better now.

Yeah; it wouldn't let me set up the accounts as POP accounts anymore that were POP accounts prior to the update.

When you create a new existing mail account, Thunderbird by default will initially look up the server settings for imap. It just because it's a more popular option. Personally, I have some imap and some pop. Pop is not defunct unless the server itself chooses not to offer it. At this point you would have had to select the Pop option, so forcing Thunderbird to recheck the server settings. OR clickon 'Manually Configure' button and alter the Protocol to say Pop, then manually alter the server settings and port etc. Then click on 'Retest'

But as you seem to have IMAP, then you could try using 'Unified Folders' From the menu bar - View > Folders > select 'Unified Folders'

All the default folders then get unified. So the Unified Inbox shows all emails that are in all of the maila ccounts in one virtual Unified Inbox. That virtual Unified 'Inbox' will have a chevron > - click on chevron will show each mail account individual Inbox. As the 'Trash' is also a default folder, it means you will see a virtual Unified folder called 'Trash', so all emails from all accounts that you put into Trash should display in go.

Now - you may not want that view all the time, but it may be useful to select that view > Folders > Unified when you get to the end of the month and want to clear a load of emails.

Otherwise - I suggest you manually set up the Retention Policy on each Trash to auto remove stuff older than 30 days.

In case anyone is reading this later, and it helps to know this...I switched that "unified folders" view back and forth about 6 separate times, struggling to tell what I was missing. The "view" drop-down covers much of the folders pane while adjusting the settings, so some of it was obscured, but I could see that something was moving a little when I made the switch, but I couldn't figure out what it was doing, because I saw all the same folders.

I stuck with it because of your description and knowing I must be missing something. Turns out it puts the unified folders at the very bottom of the list, after all of the regular folders, and I literally couldn't see them because they're past the point at which it's necessary to scroll.

Thank you for this, though. This should make my life easier.

In the Folder Pane If you want to see a specifc Folder Mode at the top: Example: If you have both 'All Folders' and 'Unified Folders' selected, then you see both, one above the other. If you want to move the Unified folders up: Scroll to where it says 'Unified Folders' look to the right and you will see a vertical 3 dot icon - click on that icon and select 'Move up'.