Change order of downloading new messages?
Is it possible to change the order Thunderbird downloads new emails? At the moment the oldest messages are downloaded first, but I'd like it to work it's way backwards, downloading the most recent first. When I start the program to see a specific email I know should have just come in, and have several hundred older emails to download first from the previous couple of days, it's a little annoying!
Thanks in advance.
All Replies (3)
The short answer is no.
Ok, thanks anyway!
If speed is an issue, you could work around the wait time by setting Thunderbird to fetch headers only, while you’ll be able to get the full message afterwards.
For POP servers: Tools/Edit > Account Settings > Server Settings > Fetch headers only
Headers will be downloaded immediately and faster, and when done, you can click the newest message (either in top or bottom of the list, as preferred for the view) which will be downloaded by clicking a link below the header.
For IMAP servers: Tools/Edit > Account Settings > Synchronization & Storage
IMAP offers more options for limiting downloads / synchronization by age or size. Others would need a click to get downloaded. See here for more info.
I think by default, POP messages or headers are always downloaded in order of date/time received (either headers or full messages); IMAP may prefer the Inbox, but I’m not sure. Although it would be technically possible to change the order of retrieving each message or just header, I’m not aware of any add-on for either protocol that does.