I just noticed that Thunderbird is already offering to upgrade me to version 116, although I can't see if it'd fix these problems - unless they're related to the digital signature fixes or the GnuPG fixes (whatever they are..?)

I'll consider updating to ver 116 (unless it's possible to try a roll-back first?)

I found a list of

Thunderbird releases here and I'm assuming I'd need to uninstall my newer version before installing an earlier one. But is that safe, or is it likely to lose all my existing emails?

I'd like to know the fix too. Ever since the update it completely freezes while it slowly downloads messages. I pretty much hate it but it's a pain switching to a whole new email app because of having to switch old emails.

Groan... I decided to take the simpler route and update to ver 116 but after the update it's only updated me from 115.10 to 115.14 so it remains to be seen whether or not that'll fix anything...

I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed!

BTW is this the wrong place to be asking questions about Mozilla Thunderbird? Very few questions seem to get any answers :-(

Ever since the update it completely freezes while it slowly downloads messages.

@gale1965 - I've only been using it for a few hours but so far, upgrading to 115.14 looks like it's fixed the slowness issues.

I've only been using it for a few hours but so far, upgrading to 115.14 looks like it's fixed the slowness issues.

I was wrong, it hasn't fixed them - which brings up another question (I'll start a new thread about this, if that helps...)

Abour four posts ago I included a link to the various Thunderbird releases. And AFAICT the latest release is now at version 129. So for some users (including me) why does Thunderbird insist on keeping us at version 115, which seems to be one of the buggiest?

Hopefully one of the regular contributers might give some background about this.

BTW is this the wrong place to be asking questions about Mozilla Thunderbird? Very few questions seem to get any answers :-(

This is a peer support from where answers come from fellow Thunderbird users. There is a lack of tolerance for poorly though out questions, posting of incorrect information and general comments about things being slow. (more on that later) but fundamentally questions about things being slow are largely a waste of everyone's time as most want someone else to do the fixing for them and the only real answer that can be offered is. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Memory_Usage_Problems

Your topic is more unlikely to attract much interest because there is not a Thunderbird 116. There is a version 128 that has been released for limited update on non 32 bit systems and direct download. Yours is a 32 bit system you say so the latest release version available for you is 115.14. I suggest you refer to Wikipedia for your release information. I do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mozilla_Thunderbird

Sure you found the archive, but unless you know what you are looking at you will be downloading daily developer builds and beta software. (that is the 129 series listed there.) Again have a look at Wikipedia.

Having offered the link to memory troubleshooting which is the same process for "slowness" there are standard diagnostics for all general issues including slowness and hangs below. These apply especially post update when third part products are most likely to be messing things up.

Please provide results for the following test on your system

1. Does Thunderbird work as expected in Thunderbird troubleshooting mode?
2. Does Thunderbird work as expected with your OS started in safe mode with Networking. Instructions for each operating system: Windows 10/11, Windows 8, Windows 7, OSX

Thanks Matt - I'll try running for a couple of days in Troubleshooting mode and report back - but just one question...

I opted for Troubleshooting mode here but visually, nothing looked any different. Is there some way to tell when TB has entered Troubleshooting mode?

[Edit...] Ignore me... I tried a second time and this time I could see some differences (e.g. the Help menu now reads "Turn Troubleshoot Mode Off" )

Okay, Thunderbird just hung while receiving an email in Troubleshooting mode (it rocovered after about a minute). But there are no new entries in the Events list. Does that tell us anything?

[Edit...] After a reboot this morning I launched Thunderbird in Troubleshooting mode and it immediately hung (again, for about 60 seconds) while receiving my first email. Yesterday I'd assumed that Events was a list of unexplained events that've occurred but this morning I've realised that Events is just a feature I've never used before (for listing friends' birthdays or whatever?)

So what's with the 60 second delay? Will there be a report somewhere that'll tell me what happened? Or are downloads just very slow when in Troubleshooting mode? FWIW if I send an email to myself, those ones download at normal speed so it's all a bit puzzling...

@Matt - I guess this might be significant too... I wondered what'd happen if I set up a second account in Thunderbird but using the same email address.

So I went through the procedure and TB seems happy to host both accounts - but the new account has been set up as an IMAP account, whereas the original version was using POP format. Currently, neither account is hanging but I'll keep monitoring this and see if they both hang together or if it's only hanging the one in the older format.

Yes, the POP account was still slow and hanging but I figured out how to roll back to an earlier Thunderbird version. So I'll post back here if it fixes the problem.

After some further testing I've a bit more info...

• The main thing I discovered was that the slowness/hanging only happens if an incoming email contains a link to the internet (usually to the sender's web site). During downloads, if none of the emails contain hyperlinks, the slowness never happens.

• If any incoming email does contain a link, emails from certain senders will cause the slowness issue while others don't (no idea why...)

• I figured out how to roll back to the original ver115.0. The problematic emails now take around 15secs to download and if I click on T/bird during this time, the GUI goes through a "whiteout" effect (which I'd previously thought was a crash). However in 115.0 that effect only lasts for around 12secs or so. This is hugely shorter than ver115.14.0 where I was seeing whiteouts lasting 80secs or even longer.

• The whiteout effects only happen when the email account's server is a POP server (doesn't happen if IMAP).

• I then took Matt's advice and rebooted into Safe Mode with Networking (Windows 10 / 32-bit). The problematic emails now download slightly quicker (under 10 seconds) and there's no longer any whiteout effect if I click my T/bird GUI while there's a download in progress.

I'm not sure if this gets us any further but the performace and timings in Safe Mode look much more like normal operation.

A couple of hours after posting the above I've just had a marathon whiteout event (from version 115.0) lasting several minutes - at the end of which I saw this error message:-

https://assets-prod.sumo.prod.webservices.mozgcp.net/media/uploads/images/2024-08-15-12-36-16-13ba6c.png

Does anyone know if this is being originated from Thunderbird or from Windows? The message gives the impression that something (presumably Thunderbird?) is trying to copy my entire mailbox contents for some reason :-(

I then took Matt's advice and rebooted into Safe Mode with Networking (Windows 10 / 32-bit). The problematic emails now download slightly quicker (under 10 seconds) and there's no longer any whiteout effect if I click my T/bird GUI while there's a download in progress. I'm not sure if this gets us any further but the performace and timings in Safe Mode look much more like normal operation.

Windows safe mode disables anti-virus software, which is most likely the culprit. These are some generic suggestions to avoid problems with anti-virus software.

Create an exception in your anti-virus software 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

Don't let your anti-virus software scan incoming and outgoing messages.

Don't let your anti-virus software scan attachments.

Don't let your anti-virus software intercept your secure connection to the server.

Remove any add-ons your anti-virus software may have installed in Thunderbird.

Many thanks christ1 - the only thing I use on this system is Microsoft Security Essentials which (pretty much) updates itself every day. But I wonder if other people have mentioned compatibility issues with MSE? I'm happy to try your suggestions but I've been using it (and Thunderbird) for many years without seeing any issues so far.

Just create the exemption for the Thunderbird profile folder. The other suggestions are not relevant for Defender.

Okay I've added the Thunderbird profile folder here and for good measure, I've also added C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\Thunderbird.exe as an excluded process. I'll keep my fingers crossed but like I said, the problem only happens when certain types of email are being received (emails containing a hyperlink). But it's gotta be worth trying! Thanks for the tip.

Okay I've added the Thunderbird profile folder here and for good measure, I've also added C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\Thunderbird.exe as an excluded process.

@christ1 - this problem's given me lots of false hopes along the way (and admittedly, I'm still at an early stage...) but it looks like your Defender suggestion might've fixed the problem! I'll keep my fingers crossed for the next few days and thanks.

johne53 said

Okay I've added the Thunderbird profile folder here and for good measure, I've also added C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\Thunderbird.exe as an excluded process.

@christ1 - this problem's given me lots of false hopes along the way (and admittedly, I'm still at an early stage...) but it looks like your Defender suggestion might've fixed the problem! I'll keep my fingers crossed for the next few days and thanks.

Thanks for updating the topic.