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Extraneous gmail folders in Thunderbird

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Matt

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I have been having difficulties with Thunderbird account definitions for 6 months. I didn't recognize it as a definitions problem because I hadn't made any Thunderbird changes. I finally have all but 1 of my 5 email accounts working... but, my now-working Gmail account has a lot of extraneous folders (like multiple trash bins, etc; see attached).

Gmail shows 2 lists of incoming email: "Inbox" and "All mail". The "Inbox" folder is incomplete, most recent email shown is from last August; the "All Mail" folder appears to contain a complete list of emails for the Gmail account.

Can I get rid of all the extraneous folders? How?

I have been having difficulties with Thunderbird account definitions for 6 months. I didn't recognize it as a definitions problem because I hadn't made any Thunderbird changes. I finally have all but 1 of my 5 email accounts working... but, my now-working Gmail account has a lot of extraneous folders (like multiple trash bins, etc; see attached). Gmail shows 2 lists of incoming email: "Inbox" and "All mail". The "Inbox" folder is ''incomplete'', most recent email shown is from last August; the "All Mail" folder appears to contain a complete list of emails for the Gmail account. Can I get rid of all the extraneous folders? How?
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Thanks for the quick reply. two-factor authentication may indeed be an issue, although it didn't seem to be an issue in the case of the other 3 Zoho accounts that are working under Thunderbird. But I'm not certain just when Zoho initiated two-factor login, and its possible I changed those accounts back to password-only.

Two-factor is in effect when I log into any of my 4 Zoho email accounts from a browser, doesn't seem to affect the other 3 Zoho accounts that are currently working in Thunderbird. But I didn't need to use a Thunderbird login to (re)create those 3 accounts, I just altered their server parameters. That didn't work for the waynec entry, so I tried allowing Thunderbird to build the waynec entry.

It will take me awhile to check that out (I'm old & slow), and I have some appointments today, so I won't have the time until possibly tonight.

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All Replies (20)

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does that absolute mess appear if you log into Gmails site and look at the labels being copied to imap folders?

What I think I am seeing is two gmail accounts, one names Gmail and one named for your email address (the indentations are hard when seen so small)

You have created a trash folder under inbox, no idea why you did that. I suggest you delete it.

But I still think you need to post the troubleshooting information so we can actually see what accounts you have configured.

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Matt, sorry I'm so dumb, I certainly didn't purposely add a trash folder, nor purposely create 2 gmail accounts (only one is defined in account settings, but I have done a lot of thrashing while trying to get Tbird working again for my accounts). Hope this is the troubleshooting info you asked for (too big for one upload, so I'm trying to do two uploads):

 he Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 91.5.0
   Build ID: 20220106182030
   Distribution ID:
   Update Channel: release
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:91.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/91.5.0
   OS: Windows_NT 10.0 19041
   Launcher Process: Enabled
   Multiprocess Windows: 0/0
   Fission Windows: 0/0
             Disabled by default
   Remote Processes: 2
   Enterprise Policies: Inactive
   Google Location Service Key: Missing
   Google Safebrowsing Key: Missing
   Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing
   Safe Mode: false
 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (none) Local Folders, 0, 3
   account6:
     INCOMING: account6, , (nntp) news:119, 0, 3
     OUTGOING: , smtppro.zoho.com:465, 3, 3, true
   account7:
     INCOMING: account7, , (imap) imappro.zoho.com:993, 3, 3
     OUTGOING: , smtppro.zoho.com:465, 3, 3, true
   account8:
     INCOMING: account8, , (imap) imappro.zoho.com:993, 3, 3
     OUTGOING: , smtppro.zoho.com:465, 3, 3, true
   account10:
     INCOMING: account10, , (imap) imappro.zoho.com:993, 3, 3
     OUTGOING: , smtppro.zoho.com:465, 3, 3, true
   account12:
     INCOMING: account12, , (imap) imap.gmail.com:993, 3, 3
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, 3, 3, true
   account13:
     INCOMING: account13, , (imap) imappro.zoho.com:993, 3, 3
     OUTGOING: , smtppro.zoho.com:465, 3, 3, true
     OUTGOING: , smtppro.zoho.com:465, 3, 3, false
 Calendar Settings
   Home
     Name
     Value
     Name:
     Type: storage
     Disabled:
     Username:
     URI:
     Refresh Interval:
     Read-only:
     Suppress Alarms:
     Cache Enabled:
     iMIP Identity: id5
     iMIP Disabled:
     iMIP Account:
     Organizer Id:
     Force Email Scheduling:
     Popup Alarms Supported:
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     Privacy State Supported:
     Priority Supported: true
     Event Supported:
     Task Supported:
     Local Time Supported:
     UTC/GMT Supported:
     Auto-Scheduling Supported:
 Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
 Remote Processes
   Type: Count
     Web Content: 1 / 8
     GPU: 1
 Add-ons
     Name
     Type
     Version
     Enabled
     ID
       Amazon.com
       extension
       1.1
       true
       amazondotcom@search.mozilla.org
       Bing
       extension
       1.0
       true
       bing@search.mozilla.org
       DuckDuckGo
       extension
       1.0
       true
       ddg@search.mozilla.org
       Google
       extension
       1.0
       true
       google@search.mozilla.org
       Wikipedia (en)
       extension
       1.0
       true
       wikipedia@search.mozilla.org
 Security Software
   Type: Name
     Antivirus: Microsoft Defender Antivirus
     Antispyware:
     Firewall: Windows Firewall
 Graphics
     Features
     Compositing: WebRender
     Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: wheel input enabled; scrollbar drag enabled; keyboard enabled; autoscroll enabled; smooth pinch-zoom enabled
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in the Account Settings > Copies & Folders 'Drafts' has the icon which says it is the selected Drafts folder. 'Drafts (9') folder seems to be the folder which has the stored Drafts emails. But which one is the default 'Drafts' folder used by gmail?

There are a lot of folders which you have created. I'm also not convinced you have selected all the correct folders in the 'Account Settings'.

In order to work out which is which can you supply two images. 1. Account Settings > Copies & Folders Post image showing selected folders for the gmail imap account.

2. Logon to gmail webmail account - select 'Settings' and choose the 'Labels' option. Make sure all folders can be seen in the left pane and also on the right side under 'Labels.' Post image showing all the folders - as example post image which looks like the one below.

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Toad-Hall: thanks for the reply; images attached

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Everything you see in the image posted below are all Labels/folders created by you. In the webmail account: You need to move emails out of those created labels/folders into the default 'System Labels' folders. [Imap]/Drafts - 13 conversations - move those emails into the default Drafts folder [Imap]/Sent - 620 conversation - move to the default 'Sent Mail' folder [Imap]/Trash - 37 - move to default 'Trash' gmail/[gmail]/Trash - 166 - move to default 'Trash' gmail/Sent - 455 - move to 'Sent Mail' folder

Once this is done - In Thunderbird, select folders to fully synchronise and then you will see which folders now have all the emails. Then unsubscribe from seeing all the folders you do not want.

Finally, go back to the webmail account and delete all the labels you created as shown in image below.

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Sorry, but I am totally confused. I have no idea how I would have created all those folders.

You said:

  In the webmail account:
  You need to move emails out of those created labels/folders into the default 'System Labels' 
  folders.
  [Imap]/Drafts - 13 conversations - move those emails into the  default Drafts folder
  [Imap]/Sent - 620 conversation - move to the default 'Sent Mail' folder
  [Imap]/Trash - 37 - move to default 'Trash'
  gmail/[gmail]/Trash - 166 - move to default 'Trash'
  gmail/Sent - 455 - move to 'Sent Mail' folder"

Do you mean do those moves at Gmail? ...or in my Thunderbird interface?

What do you mean by "select folders to fully synchronize"... does that mean just click on the folders in Thunderbird and they automatically synchronize? What folders?

What do you mean by "unsubscribe from seeing all the folders you do not want"

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Ok, So you have a single gmail account configured and it is IMAP. I suggest you actually delete it as all the mail will repopulate from google when it is set up again. That is how IMAP works. All those folders which are just so confusing will also disappear and what you have in Google will download.

I asked if that showed up if you logged into gmail from your browser, and have not had an answer. If it does there is no point deleting the account as it will repopulate exactly as it is now. If it does not, deleting and recreating would mean no need to try and sort out what it is all doing in Thunderbird now.

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That seemed like a great idea, Matt, but it didn't change much....

After doing that delete and recreate I still have the situation where I have an inbox (3) that has 654 emails (mostly old: latest is today, a security alert from gmail, ...but the other emails that are listed end on 8/23/2021). And, I still have a folder named "All Mail (12)" that contains all emails, up to current emails (4,122 emails).

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Appended: Your last image seems improved, so perhaps you have already been removing folders. I cannot tell what you have in the bottom 'gmail' as it is not expanded. Expand that gmail folder and if it has folders then you need to unsubscribe from seeing them.

re : Do you mean do those moves at Gmail? Yes - do it in the webmail account because it will move all the emails from those folders which you have created as per image I posted.

re: What do you mean by "select folders to fully synchronize"... does that mean just click on the folders in Thunderbird and they automatically synchronize? What folders?

When Thunderbird starts (you could try a restart if it already open) it should automatically synch the folders, but if not then select each in turn. You should see that all the server default folders will now match the webmail folders and contain all emails. This will tell you which 'Trash' folder is the correct one as it will contain all the trashed emails. It will also tell you which 'Drafts' folder is correct as it will contain all the 'Draft' emails.

re: What do you mean by "unsubscribe from seeing all the folders you do not want" You only see subscribed folders. Right click on imap mail account name folder in Folder Pane and select 'Subscribe'. A small window opens showing the list of imap folders.

Click on 'Refresh' Select the following folders as per image below and then click on 'Unsubscribe' If you have nothing in the expanded gmail folder then all is ok. You still need to unsubscribe from seeing the 'All Mail' folder. click on OK.

Note: The image I've shown below was the image which showed folder contents before you moved emails, so by now you should see which Trash and which Drafts folder is the correct one as those will contain the emails. If the incorrect folders have already been removed then you will only need to unsubscribe from seeing the 'All Mail' folder.

They should disappear from the Folder Pane.

Then access webmail and delete all the created 'Labels' as per second image below.

Then you should be left with all the correct server folders. Now you need to check your 'Account Settings' for that gmail imap account. Select 'Server Settings' When I delete a message select 'Move it to this folder' Choose the 'Trash on gmail account' - by now there should only be one 'Trash'

Select 'Copies & Folders' For 'Drafts' select 'Other' and choose 'Drafts on gmail account' by now there should only be one 'Drafts'.

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Toad-Hall: sorry, I am still a bit confused.

I am not sure what folders I had in my Thunderbird Gmail account before this issue, but I think they were pretty much the same as for my Zoho email accounts.

I deleted the Gmail account in Thunderbird, then added it; I currently see the folders shown in my uploaded image below.

The Gmail account in Thunderbird may be usable now (but the folders shown are different than for my Zoho email accounts):

1. There is a folder for "sent and' received" email (All Mail) and another for only "Sent" Mail, but the "Inbox" is incorrect (it only contains emails dated 8/23/2021 and prior).

2. What is "Important" email and "Starred" email? I would have thought the user needs to move emails to those folders. I did not. The email in the "Important" folder ends with an 8/23/2021 email, so its far outdated.

Modified by Matt

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car-nuts said

That seemed like a great idea, Matt, but it didn't change much.... After doing that delete and recreate I still have the situation where I have an inbox (3) that has 654 emails (mostly old: latest is today, a security alert from gmail, ...but the other emails that are listed end on 8/23/2021). And, I still have a folder named "All Mail (12)" that contains all emails, up to current emails (4,122 emails).

What is the issue?

ALL IMAP gmail accounts have an all mail folder associated with them. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-gmail#w_gmails-particularities

I really do not care what the dates of the inbox emails are. You have a working inbox because is got mail today in the form of a security alert. It has according to the image you posted 3 unread emails out of what I assume is a total of 654 emails. I guess you have archived all the mail in the middle as they are showing up in the all mail folder. (in gmail parlance have had their "inbox" label removed.)

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Well, my issue with my Gmail account is that the account folders shown are different than the folders shown in my other (Zoho) accounts, and the Gmail "Inbox" doesn't show all the recent emails that the "All Mail" folder shows (although strangely it does now show emails that arrived today, so perhaps it is usable). In my Zoho accounts, "Inbox" is the only folder holding current emails.

I can live with it, but I do not recall the Gmail account looking so different from my other email accounts (see uploaded image).

Now, if I could only get the 4th of my Zoho accounts (waynec) working in Thunderbird...

  • When I let Thunderbird add the waynec account, it uses imap.zoho.com ssl/tls and smtp.zoho.com ssl/tls (the wayne account uses imappro and smtppro)... the new waynec account build fails on password.
  • If I manually change the waynec server definition in Thunderbird to imappro and smtppro, and then bring Thunderbird down and back up, the waynec account still fails on password, the same password that works when I sign in at zoho.com online.

Modified by Matt

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re :the Gmail "Inbox" doesn't show all the recent emails that the "All Mail" folder shows

If you logon to the gmail webmail account and select the 'All Mail' folder to see emails.... You will notice that each email will have all applied 'labels' listed. If some recent emails do not have the 'Inbox' label listed then it will not display in the Inbox.

This can occur if you deleted a recent email in the imap account and did not have that deleted email get sent to the correct server default 'Trash' folder so gmail assumes you wanted to archive it OR you chose to archive that email or you moved it to another folder - basically the 'Inbox' label got removed.

Put a copy in the Inbox and the Inbox label will get applied. It does not matter whether you do this in the webmail account or in the imap account. I notice you have still not unsubscribed from seeing the 'All Mail' folder, so you can put copies of emails into the 'Inbox' via the imap account.

When gmail server receives emails and when you send emails, gmail keeps all emails in the 'All Mail' folder. This is were all emails get stored. Gmail understand that is not a convenient way to see emails. So they use 'labels' so they can create a kind of virtual view which looks more like the familiar 'Folder' structure. You can only see emails in other 'folders' like 'Inbox', 'Sent' etc because gmail has applied the relevant label to facilitate viewing them in a normal folder type view. By default any new Incoming email will have the 'Inbox' label applied, so it appears in the 'Inbox' folder. If label is removed the email will stay in the 'All Mail' folder - this is how gmail archives your mail. If you delete an email and it gets put into the server default 'Trash' folder - when that 'Trash' folder is emptied either manually by you or automatically by gmail (it does this for any email in Trash older than 30 days), then it gets properly deleted from the 'All Mail' folder.

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Thanks for the response, Toad-Hall. Didn't remember having so many folders in gmail before (with some being almost duplicates) but I guess I don't have to open them all so I can live with them so long as I can view incoming mail, sent mail, and trash; sure beats not being able to access gmail from Thunderbird.

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Now, if I could just figure out why I can't get my last Zoho.com email account set up (waynec@jagsnvettes.com).

It should be identical to my "Wayne@jagsnvettes" identity, even the password is identical

Thunderbird keeps rejecting my "waynec@jagsnvettes.com" email identity, saying the password is rejected; I can use Firefox to log into that email account at Zoho.com using the same password.

I've played with server names, etc, but Thunderbird always says the password is rejected (the password is not in Thunderbird's password safe).

I've tried setting it up manually, and I've tried letting Thunderbird do the setup by accessing Zoho (it does find the account, but rejects my password).

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Just because it rejects password, it does not necessarilly mean the password is wrong. The password may be perfectly ok but not with settings. You mention identical password, but I suggest you change it in webmail account - if you like to keep them similar perhaps just add the letter C or number 3.

However, I had a thought....have you previously set up Two-Factor Authentication for that particular email address / account. If yes, then get an app generated password so when typing password in Thunderbird enter that app password, instead of the normal password. Otherwise switch off Two-Factor Authentication. see info: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/two-factor-authentication.html#alink5

But I cannot check all other setting for typo etc - I need you to try to create the mail account - click on the 'Manual Config' button and post image showing what you are trying to use.

Incoming Server Settings (Organization users with a domain-based email address,you@yourdomain.com):

Incoming Server Name: imappro.zoho.com Port: 993 Connection Security: SSL/TLS Authentication Method: Normal Password Username: you@yourdomain.com (full email address)

Outgoing Server Name: smtppro.zoho.com Port: 587 Connection SEcurity: STARTTLS Authentication Method: Normal Password Username: you@yourdomain.com (full email address)

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Chosen Solution

Thanks for the quick reply. two-factor authentication may indeed be an issue, although it didn't seem to be an issue in the case of the other 3 Zoho accounts that are working under Thunderbird. But I'm not certain just when Zoho initiated two-factor login, and its possible I changed those accounts back to password-only.

Two-factor is in effect when I log into any of my 4 Zoho email accounts from a browser, doesn't seem to affect the other 3 Zoho accounts that are currently working in Thunderbird. But I didn't need to use a Thunderbird login to (re)create those 3 accounts, I just altered their server parameters. That didn't work for the waynec entry, so I tried allowing Thunderbird to build the waynec entry.

It will take me awhile to check that out (I'm old & slow), and I have some appointments today, so I won't have the time until possibly tonight.

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Toad-Hall,

I was wrong about two-factor sign-in for my Zoho accounts. I did not turn it on, but I guess Zoho did, likely around July 1st when my problems started.

Apparently I did turn it off for 3 of my 4 Zoho accounts at some point during this long problem with Tbird and Zoho, but I do/did not recall having done that (again, I'm an old guy).

I now have all 4 of my Zoho email accounts working in Thunderbird.

Thank You!!! Thank You!!! Thank You!!!

But, of course, I had to sacrifice the extra security of a 2-factor login. Is there a plan for accommodating two-factor login via Thunderbird, or must we forego that extra security?

BTW, it would be nice if the entries in this forum were date-stamped, so that we could tell how old the questions/answers are, and what version of Thunderbird or Firefox was likely current at the time.

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PS, thank you, too, Matt, for sticking with me through this ordeal.

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