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.

Avatar for Username

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

Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

Where does Thunderbird store which emails it has already downloaded from the mail server

  • 1 baphendule
  • 1 inale nkinga
  • 5 views
  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu Chris Ilias

Kit
Kit
more options

Occasionally I copy my T-Bird profile from my PC to my lap-top so that I can see my emails as I travel. Sometimes when I do that and use the laptop T-Bird to get more mail from my POP3 server, it downloads a bunch of mail that I have already downloaded and were stored in the T-Bird files that I copied to my laptop. (Actually, sometimes I just backup up my PC profile and then restore it on the laptop.) How can I prevent T-Bird from downloading mails it has already downloaded?

Occasionally I copy my T-Bird profile from my PC to my lap-top so that I can see my emails as I travel. Sometimes when I do that and use the laptop T-Bird to get more mail from my POP3 server, it downloads a bunch of mail that I have already downloaded and were stored in the T-Bird files that I copied to my laptop. (Actually, sometimes I just backup up my PC profile and then restore it on the laptop.) How can I prevent T-Bird from downloading mails it has already downloaded?

All Replies (1)

Chris Ilias
Chris Ilias
  • Moderator
more options

I think Thunderbird defaults to leaving messages on the POP server for 2 weeks. There's a setting for that, which you can disable.

  1. Right-click on the account name and select Settings.
  2. In the account settings window, select the Server Settings panel for that account.
  3. Uncheck Leave messages on server

Ultimately, I would recommend switching from POP to IMAP. This video explains the differences:

If you need help switching, this article should help: Switch from POP to IMAP account