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

How to solve problem with slow download of gmail messages

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Wayne Mery

more options

Hi all,

I have a gmail imap account on my thunderbird, but recently I have been having issues where it takes ages to download a message. The message appears in the inbox but when I click on it I get the Downloading message... in the bottom left hand corner. Even if the message is just text with no attachments.

Obviously when I log into gmail online the message loads instantly.

My other email accounts in the Thunderbird do not have these loading issues.

I am wondering what the issue could be.

Please let me know if you need more information about the accounts settings.

Many thanks,

Richard

Hi all, I have a gmail imap account on my thunderbird, but recently I have been having issues where it takes ages to download a message. The message appears in the inbox but when I click on it I get the Downloading message... in the bottom left hand corner. Even if the message is just text with no attachments. Obviously when I log into gmail online the message loads instantly. My other email accounts in the Thunderbird do not have these loading issues. I am wondering what the issue could be. Please let me know if you need more information about the accounts settings. Many thanks, Richard

All Replies (2)

more options

The first thing to try is to compact your folders. Right click on each of your folders and click compact.

more options

It sounds more like the type of problem caused by "throttling" which might happen because of google's download limits, or local network problems.

But there are other potential causes. 1. What folders are downloading? (see the activity in Tools | activity manager) 2. Is the gmail account set up as imap? or pop? 3. what antivirus software are you running?