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HELP> all post from inbox goes also to 'all mail' and 'starred'.

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Zenos

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All incoming mail goes unwanted not only to inbox but also automatically to 'starred' and 'all mail'. I never asked for this. As soon as I delete out of any of those 3 boxes a mail, this mail is deleted also from te other 2 boxes( folders). My inbox I always keep as small as possible so there is no problem being too full. It also takes a log time to get my incoming mail visible as it is distrubuting itself first to the other 2 boxes. If I would delete this 'all mail'box, all my inbox would be emptied.. What to do and why did this happen?

All incoming mail goes unwanted not only to inbox but also automatically to 'starred' and 'all mail'. I never asked for this. As soon as I delete out of any of those 3 boxes a mail, this mail is deleted also from te other 2 boxes( folders). My inbox I always keep as small as possible so there is no problem being too full. It also takes a log time to get my incoming mail visible as it is distrubuting itself first to the other 2 boxes. If I would delete this 'all mail'box, all my inbox would be emptied.. What to do and why did this happen?

Chosen solution

This is gmail? I suggest that you go to the account settings in Thunderbird and unsubscribe these folders. Or better still, go to the gmail settings website and disable them.

Gmail doesn't really use folders. They store all your messages in one big heap and apply labels to them. So when you ask to see, for example, Sent messages, it shows you just those messages with a "Sent" label.

The big heap of messages is of course the "folder" view named "All Mail". I would argue that you don't need to see this in Thunderbird. Similarly, gmail may be applying stars for you. (I don't know why, nor what the stars signify). Again turning off this folder in Thunderbird will eliminate it.

I found a few other "clever" things that gmail were doing and I went to the gmail settings website to disable them. I'm not interested in them deciding for me what is "important" and I have no use for their "circles" or "categories". You can disable all of these, or at least inhibit them from being shown to your email client.

Just in case it wasn't clear, DO NOT remove things from All Mail until you are really sure you really don't want them any more. Gmail try to make it hard to delete things; when you delete a message, they just hide it so it can be undeleted later on.

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Chosen Solution

This is gmail? I suggest that you go to the account settings in Thunderbird and unsubscribe these folders. Or better still, go to the gmail settings website and disable them.

Gmail doesn't really use folders. They store all your messages in one big heap and apply labels to them. So when you ask to see, for example, Sent messages, it shows you just those messages with a "Sent" label.

The big heap of messages is of course the "folder" view named "All Mail". I would argue that you don't need to see this in Thunderbird. Similarly, gmail may be applying stars for you. (I don't know why, nor what the stars signify). Again turning off this folder in Thunderbird will eliminate it.

I found a few other "clever" things that gmail were doing and I went to the gmail settings website to disable them. I'm not interested in them deciding for me what is "important" and I have no use for their "circles" or "categories". You can disable all of these, or at least inhibit them from being shown to your email client.

Just in case it wasn't clear, DO NOT remove things from All Mail until you are really sure you really don't want them any more. Gmail try to make it hard to delete things; when you delete a message, they just hide it so it can be undeleted later on.

Modified by Zenos

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See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-gmail for some more info on gmail's peculiar way of implementing IMAP.