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.

Search Support

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 38.3.0 repeatedly tries to download email from IMAP server

  • 1 nzaghachinzaghachi
  • 1 nwere nsogbu anwere nsogbu a
  • 12 views
  • Nzaghachi ikpeazụ nke johnprandle

more options

I am running TB38.3.0 on an ASUS EeePC with Windows 10 and Microsoft Defender (MSE). I have a number of IMAP accounts that are all working fine, as are a couple of POP3 accounts. However, recently one of the IMAP accounts keeps indicating that it is downloading the inbox .. over and over again. Sometimes the downloading status message is contradictory .. for example "downloading 3 of 1 in Inbox". The total number of unread messages is correct on the account panel. Also, I will frequently get a status message on the top that says TB is not responding, and occasionally a status message in the lower right corner that says the email server has disconnected. TB then reconnects and downloads headers and then starts downloading new emails. Unlike other users with similar problems, I do not get duplicated email in the TB client. Any suggestions would be appreciated. -- John Knoxville TN

I am running TB38.3.0 on an ASUS EeePC with Windows 10 and Microsoft Defender (MSE). I have a number of IMAP accounts that are all working fine, as are a couple of POP3 accounts. However, recently one of the IMAP accounts keeps indicating that it is downloading the inbox .. over and over again. Sometimes the downloading status message is contradictory .. for example "downloading 3 of 1 in Inbox". The total number of unread messages is correct on the account panel. Also, I will frequently get a status message on the top that says TB is not responding, and occasionally a status message in the lower right corner that says the email server has disconnected. TB then reconnects and downloads headers and then starts downloading new emails. Unlike other users with similar problems, I do not get duplicated email in the TB client. Any suggestions would be appreciated. -- John Knoxville TN

All Replies (1)

more options

As an update ... I have now determined the problem was appearing while using various WIFI access points while traveling. When returning to my home station/network, the problem does not appear. The settings for the affected TB client account on the EeePC are identical to the settings on other systems at my home station. So ... while the problem appears to be localized to various WIFI access points, and not TB perse, I would still like to be able to resolve it as the EeePC with TB is my preferred email access while traveling. -- John Knoxville TN