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Thunderbird Won’t Download Messages & Emails? Try These Fixes

Published by admin on Last Updated On :Nov 04, 2022

Thunderbird facilitates people to manage chats, emails, and news feeds seamlessly. Through this email client, people can control their email messages. Moreover, it also provides multiple add-ons that improve the overall email experience of users.

However, there are also some issues that people regularly need help with, such as Thunderbird not downloading emails. They often find that Thunderbird won’t download messages. But there’s certainly a way to tackle this problem. In this article, we’ll discuss step-by-step instructions on what to do when Thunderbird is not downloading emails.

Also Check:- How to Sync Google Calendar with Thunderbird

Reasons Why Your Thunderbird Won’t Download Messages

Thunderbird is a client application that is compatible with Linux, Windows, and Mac. In it, attachments, emails, and similar mail components are stored as MBOX documents on the close-by workstation by the open-supply email user. Sometimes, you might find that you cannot download thunderbird emails that you have previously downloaded but have removed.

Here are some important reasons why this application is not downloading all your messages.

• Occurrence of issues with a corrupt database.
• Download Thunderbird mailbox only the recent mails.
• Problem with the fragmentation in its global database.
• The Mozilla Thunderbird application is fragmented, corrupt, or has a similar problem.

Also Check, Why:- Thunderbird email not working

Measures to Take When Thunderbird Won’t Download Messages

Now you know various reasons that prevent Thunderbird from downloading your emails. You can proceed to the part of fixing this problem effectively. Irrespective of the protocol you are using, this issue can arise. So, here are some measures you can take according to your account type.

1. Steps for POP3 Thunderbird Account

In the POP3 method, the incoming messages are present in the inbox or mailbox in the server. Thunderbird downloads the messages to store on your system. Thunderbird also instantly removes them from the server until you decide otherwise by accessing the Server Settings panel from your account.

Global searching is the global database that employs global-messages-db.sqlite as the search index. It has a copy of all emails from your Thunderbird email account. It duplicates the emails from the inbox files that are produced by synchronization. You’ll find that Thunderbird won’t download emails when this file gets corrupted. The application becomes unable to download them. But you can take the following actions to fix the Thunderbird stopped downloading emails issue.

1. Exit the Thunderbird application.
2. On your Thunderbird profile, locate the ‘global-messages-db.sqlite’ file.
3. Now delete or remove this file from the local machine. It will force the Thunderbird application to download all emails or messages POP3.
4. After that, select restart Thunderbird application. The process of re-indexing will commence automatically.
5. Keep in mind that the amount of time that the Thunderbird application takes for re-indexing will be based on the number of emails. At times, it can take a couple of minutes to finish the whole indexing process.
6. When the process of indexing is continuing, you can use your Thunderbird. But note that it may become slow and respond very slowly to the commands.
7. You can monitor the indexing status. To do it, go to ‘Tools’ and from there to ‘Activity Manager’.

After this process, Mozilla Thunderbird will download all your messages with thunderbird mailbox items. It will also sync them with your MBOX files. So those who have a POP3 account can resolve the issue of Thunderbird not downloading messages by using the process described above.

2. Steps for IMAP Thunderbird Account

In the IMAP method of accessing mail, folders and messages are stored on the server. Any changes or modifications in Thunderbird get reflected on the server. Likewise, any modifications on the server get reflected on Thunderbird. It is common Thunderbird email problem.

If you are finding that Thunderbird is unable to download messages in your Mozilla Thunderbird account, which has an IMAP Mozilla thunderbird account configuration, you can follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Launch Mozilla Thunderbird and tap on ‘Tools.’
2. Choose the option of ‘Account Settings’ followed by ‘Synchronization & Storage category for an IMAP account.’
3. Enable the option of ‘Keep messages for this account on this computer.’
4. Next, tap the ‘Advanced’ button to force the email client for downloading every IMAP message.
5. Now check the option of ‘Download’ for the inbox folder.
6. Note that you can also select extra folders that you wish to be available offline.
7. As the last step, tap ‘OK’ followed by ‘OK’ again.

3. Fix Thunderbird Application Not Downloading Messages Issue

Apart from the methods outlined above, you can also implement some other solutions when you find that Thunderbird won’t download new messages. These solutions are given below.

• Corrupted .msf files, also called index files that are employed to cache the folder listing, can be behind your experiencing this problem with the Thunderbird application. For rebuilding a folder listing, right-tap on the specific folder and choose ‘Properties.’ You can then choose the option of ‘Rebuild Folder’ from the General Information menu. You can also close Thunderbird and delete them from the folder of the profile manually. They will be rebuilt after you open Thunderbird.
• While downloading a malformed or bad message, Thunderbird encountered a problem. It may be what is leading Thunderbird not to download any new emails issue occurs. The problem can also arise because of some technical bug. You can use the webmail to go through and then remove the malformed email message.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Thunderbird won’t download messages, mainly because of an interruption in settings and the server. It results in the downloading process slowing down. You can implement the various steps in this article and start downloading the messages. But if the techniques fail to work or Thunderbird stopped receiving emails after update, connect with Thunderbird email support experts. The expert personnel will resolve all Thunderbird-related issues for you.

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