All other mail clients showed the correct hierarchy except Thunderbird.

So this is an IMAP account and you're talking about folders created on the server, right?

Sounds like a glitch that merely restarting Thunderbird might fix. Have you tried that?

Yes, I restart Thunderbird a lot. I've never seen an app be as confusing and inconsistent as Thunderbird. The whole folders sidepanel is a mess. Not at all intuitive. I'm sooo confused. Accounts show up in random places. Folders sometimes show under Inbox in Unified, some don't. Some don't appear at all.

What's going on?

re :Secondly, I post comments on the thunderbird blog regularly but they never show up. Where are they disappearing to? Are you receiving them?

All comments posted in the Supportr Forum get entered into the question, but there is an issue at the moment which developers are supposed to be working on - normally all posted comments send an email to anyone following the question, but it seems this is not occurring.

• View > Folders > All

This is the basic normal hierarchy which most people use and is selected by default. It lists each mail account in the order determined by however you have sorted them in the Account Settings. Below each mail account will be a list of that mail accounts folders. The default folders are listed first followed by any folders you create in alphabetical order.

• View > Folders > Unified

This is useful if you have several mail accounts and want to be able to check eg: the Inbox for all accounts in one folder view. That is called the Unified Inbox folder and it's a virtual folder like a collected search result of all emails in all the mail account Inboxes. It will have a list of subfolders, but those subfolders are only the individual real Inboxes for all accounts.

So - the Folder Pane will look like this - all default folders followed by mail accounts containing non default folders.

Unified Inbox >> Account A Inbox >> Account B Inbox >> Account C Inbox Unified Drafts >> Account A Drafts >> Account B Drafts >> Account C Drafts Unified Templates >> Account A Templates >> Account B Templates >> Account C Templates Unified Sent >> Account A Sent >> Account B Sent >> Account C Sent

I'm sure you get the idea....this is repeated for Archives, Junk and Deleted.

Then you will see a list of the remainder. Each mail account will be listed in order and each account will contain all the folders that you have created for each account.

re: Folders sometimes show under Inbox in Unified, some don't. If you find here is an account which is not displaying it's eg: Inbox in the Unified Inbox folder:

• Right click on the Unified Inbox and select 'Properties'
• Make sure all of your accounts have got the 'Inbox' checkbox selected, then click on 'Update'

If you have created subfolders to an Inbox, then you have a choice - if you want them included in the Unified Inbox you will need to select those checkboxes as well. However, some people want to keep their Inboxes to purely display new Incoming mail which has not been organised into other folders regardless of whether those folders were created as Inbox subfolders. This means it's less confusing when organising emails. In that case, the Inbox subfolders will appear in the mail account list of folders situated below all the Unified Folders.

If Unified view is too confusing then do not use it. View > Folders > uncheck 'Unified' and make sure 'All is the only one selected.

Hi Toad Hall.

Thanks for the info.

That all makes sense but it's not how I see it working.

I have two accounts configured on this machine. I have both Unified and the All folder panes. I have Unified showing at the top and All folders pane showing underneath.

If you check the screenshot I attached, you can see that the two accounts show as separate items inside the Unified folders panel. Why is this?

Also, why do all the subfolders show in the unified panel. I don't want ANY subfolders to show in the Unified pane.

I have been into the "Subscribe" settings and unchecked all the subfolders but the folders and the accounts themselves still show up. I find sometimes everything reverts and some subfolders randomly disappear and then re-tick themselves in the Subscribe window.

This is what i'm trying to achieve:

Unified Panel > Inbox - Account 1 Inbox - Account 2 Inbox > Sent - Account 1 Sent - Account 2 Sent > OTHER UNIFIED FOLDERS HERE

All Folders Panel > Account 1 - ALL ACCOUNT 1 FOLDERS > Account 2 - ALL ACCOUNT 2 FOLDERS

I never want subfolders to show up in the Unified area.

Does this make sense?

Thanks!

re :If you check the screenshot I attached, you can see that the two accounts show as separate items inside the Unified folders panel. Why is this?

The 'Unified Inbox' (also applies to any other Unified folder) In the image the 'Unified Inbox has been expanded to show the individual account 'Inbox' folders. It shows the name of the account, but you will notice both have the 'Inbox' icon. Meaning those subfolders in the Unified Inbox are not account name folders they are only the Inbox folders of that account.

So in effect the images shows you have this: > Unified Inbox - Account 1 Inbox - Account 2 Inbox

If you only have two accounts then both account Inbox' folders have been selected in the 'Unified Inbox' 'Properties' criteria. Those subfolders must be present. If they are missing then the contents of those Inboxes will not appear in the Unified Inbox. It's an immediate way of noticing whether all your account Inboxes are included in the Unified Inbox.

It is common to not expand the Unified folder if you also want to display the 'All Folders' option as well. Mainly because if you really want to see an account Inbox then you can use the 'All' view. But for those who only use the 'Unified' option, they can easily expand the Unified Inbox should they wish to specifically see an accounts Inbox.

you can see that the two accounts show as separate items inside the Unified folders panel. Why is this?

Those are folders, not accounts. They show the name of the account because the name of a folder grouped under a unified folder is not only redundant, but also the same for all the folders grouped there, so Thunderbird displays the name of the account instead, so you may differentiate them. Or would you prefer every Inbox grouped under the unified Inbox to also be called Inbox there?

why do all the subfolders show in the unified panel.

Because every folder you're subscribed to has to appear somewhere in Unified Folders view too…

I never want subfolders to show up in the Unified area. Does this make sense?

No, it doesn't. You seem to think Unified Folders is a complementary view to All Folders. It isn't. It's an alternative view that also shows all the folders you're subscribed to, just organised in a different way.

The account names and other non default folders display below the Unified set of default folders because if Unified option is selected then people usually do not use the 'All folders' option. This means there is no other way of seeing all their folders.

In the screenshot, look under the Trash Unified folder heading. The accounts are listed there (I hid the names though.

They should be be showing there. I fully understand that you have "Inbox" that shows the combined Inbox folders of the two accounts I have, and I can expand that downwards to access the separated inbox folders and I understand they show the account names otherwise It would just say "Inbox" 3 times. I get that. That's NOT the problem.

The problem is why the accounts (with the little envelope icons) show UNDERNEATH Archives, Junk, and Trash Unified folders.