From reading the posts here I don't think anyone really knows the cause: at any rate I haven't seen any solutions offered. But there have been quite a few Go Daddy users lately who have complained about exactly this behaviour so you are certainly not alone. The only explanation I can think of is that it might have something to do with the frequency with which Thunderbird seeks to download new mail. Once it has made the initial connection to the server it repeatedly asks the server if any new mail has arrived: maybe Go Daddy's servers won't respond if they are asked too often? Have you tried setting Thunderbird to ask less frequently? If there is a Go Daddy help forum, have you looked there for any ideas? I'm not a Go Daddy user myself and I'm certainly no expert, I'm just offering a suggestion that might help.

Increased the time between queries. I got 1 additional download then just the same as always. I have noticed that, when first run, as thunderbird checks the accounts the bottom bar displays each account as it's checked. When I click "get messages" there is nothing there. It's as if the server doesn't accept subsequent attempts to log in. If there were some way for thunderbird to manually generate a login it might be a way to prove/disprove this. As it stands now, we have to close instead of minmize and run each time it's accessed. A somewhat usable workaround but a waste of time when multiplied by all in the office.

I agree with amanchesterman, there seems to be something going on with godaddy as several people are suddenly reporting the same issue.

Not a fix at the moment, but can you try this as a workaround: Instead of closing each time, have you tried going into Offline mode and then back to online mode.

File > Offline > Work Offline/downloadSynch

OR quick method: click on the two blue screen icon located far left in bottom Status bar. It will change to two black screen icon when 'Offline' click on two black screen icon to change back to 'Online' mode.

Did going offline and back to online work to get messages?

Not a solution but a big improvement. Makes it usable for all the users in the office since they have 1 email account in their Thunderbird. However, as administrator, I have 24 in mine and I noticed that sometimes 1 or more do not update in the cycle. Couldn't hazard a guess as to why.

This is a nasty problem. GoDaddy works fine with other email clients and Thunderbird works find with other email services. Unfortunately I have only found 1 other email client that has all the features we need in 1 program and it has the same problem. On checking I found that they licensed use of Mozilla's code and just wrote a different user interface. Guess we are stuck until one or the other makes some changes to correct the situation. The odd thing is that it started all at once around the first of the year and Thunderbird hadn't updated so it was the same before and after. Yet GoDaddy swears that they "changed nothing". It is looking like a change of provider is called for but we have an unlimited storage account with GoDaddy and haven't found a suitable substitute.

Many thanks to Manchesterman & Toad-Hall for the help. Not solved but much less of a problem.

Adding a few links, so people can easy link to current queries to see if answers turn up elsewhere:

I've located a bug report which you may be interested in following.

• https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1260724

Same topic on another thunderbird forum: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2997599

Just as suddenly as it began, my Thunderbird has been retrieving new messages automatically again. Hopefully, it will continue. Thanks to all !

It would appear Godaddy have actually addressed their issue then

Our analysis is godaddy had/has an issue with their server software not actually delivering the mail it had said was here.

See the information in This bug for details.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1260724