It 'sounds like your phone is set for POP access. Check settings.

Sent mail is a bit confusing with gmail. If you have gmail in TB, messages sent from TB are automatically copied to the Sent Mail folder, so this is the folder that should be subscribed (IMAP). Also, because they are copied automatically, uncheck 'Place a copy in' in Account Settings, Copies & Folders.

In gmail webmail, messages sent from there are copied to the Sent folder. They will appear in Sent Mail in TB, and the messages in TB's Sent Mail folder appear in the gmail webmail Sent folder. It works the same with the gmail Android app.

Changed the settings from pop3 to imap but unfortunately it made no difference. Still not receiving messages sent from my phone in the TB sent folder on my laptop. Thankyou for your replies all the same.

Changed the settings from pop3 to imap but unfortunately it made no difference. Still not receiving messages sent from my phone in the TB sent folder on my laptop. Thankyou for your replies all the same.

How did you change from POP to IMAP? It's not as simple as changing the settings - the account has to be added again as IMAP. The Sent Mail folder can only be accessed (subscribed) in an IMAP setup.

That was great advice, thanks. Been using Thunderbird for nearly 20 years on desktop then laptop and now phone and tablet (and made contributions). Must have set it to pop3 when I first used it and just copied settings across to each new machine. Didn't think about deleting and adding again which is why just altering settings did not work. Advice from each of you much appreciated. Also, might be a good idea for the programmers to say use imap not pop3.