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One POSSIBLE SOLUTION to the mail duplicated in 2 accounts

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  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

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It was barely noticable, but SERVER NAME in Server Settings was the same for both accounts. These were Yahoo IMAP accounts. Each account had its own folder in Users / ....... / ImapMail, but both accounts were pointing to one folder. Corrected this in the SERVER NAME field in Server Settings (see image)

"SHOULD" solve the issue .......... particulary it is THE ONLY item I can find that was not normal.

It was barely noticable, but SERVER NAME in Server Settings was the same for both accounts. These were Yahoo IMAP accounts. Each account had its own folder in Users / ....... / ImapMail, but both accounts were pointing to one folder. Corrected this in the SERVER NAME field in Server Settings (see image) "SHOULD" solve the issue .......... particulary it is THE ONLY item I can find that was not normal.
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Im done with it

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when two or more accounts use the same email provider, such as yahoo, they will always share the same server name. So, both having the same server name is correct. This is the server provided by Yahoo for all its users.

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DAVID ... you are mistaken in your reply, when you say "THIS is the server ..."

The image in my post is the POINTER to Thunderbird's LOCAL folder and it should always correspond to the file path in the field at the bottom of that same page (see image with this reply). There will always be a seperate local folder for each distinct email account, even when two or more are from the same provider.

Most importantly ......... this solution DID - in fact - resolve the problem in my case.

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re : Users / ....... / ImapMail, but both accounts were pointing to one folder.

If you have more than one account whose 'Local directory' is pointing to exactly the same account name folder then there is a problem and you need to make sure this is not the case.


In Account Settings > Server Settings, the 'Server name' will always be the same for any eg: yahoo account. It should not have that additional number. It must be the Server name that yahoo state is correct for server settings.

The 'Server Name' in this location is not a folder - it is the server name used by Thunderbird to access the server to synchronise folders. If it's not correct then you will have difficult accessing server.

In this case: editing the 'Server name' to remove that number would be correct.

However, the yahoo mail account name folder in the profile will have an additional number applied if more than one account is created using same server settings but different email address and password.

The 'Local directory: points to the relevant account folder in profile, so that may display the account name with a number.

However, you would need to make sure all the yahoo accounts were pointing to the correct 'Local directory' and each one should point to a different directory. Otherwise you may end up with yahoo account A using yahoo account B set of folders. As this is also an imap account, it could get messy on the server. Examples: Yahoo email address A using Local Directory: C://Users/username/Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird/profile name/ImapMail/imap.mail.yahoo.com

Yahoo email address B using Local Directory: C://Users/username/Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird/profile name/ImapMail/imap.mail.yahoo-1.com

Yahoo email address C using Local Directory: C://Users/username/Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird/profile name/ImapMail/imap.mail.yahoo-2.com

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Im done with it

Modified by mminieri

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You are so wrong. The image you posted was of the server setting, NOT the pointer to local directory. The response was to the image you posted, which should be the name of the Yahoo server. If you're going to criticize, at least have the facts. We gave you proper responses to the question as posted by you and to the image you posted. You are an offensive, undeserving, individual who asks questions incorrectly and then damns those who attempt to help.

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re : a section your comment which you deleted : The attached image captures the corresponding 9 FOLDERS that TB created when each account was created. These 9 FOLDERS are just that ......... LOCAL FOLDERS. They contain data including the filter .dat for each account, further prooving that they are FOLDERS not "SERVERS".

Unfortunately the person who posted this info also removed it which means anyone else reading this question will not see anything. It would have proved the information I posted as valid and accurate and a huge aid in understanding the information in Account settings > Server Settings as I've already mentioned.

But Yes the images displayed are folders and they are contained in the profile - it would help you to read my comments as you may learn a lot. No one said they were servers.

Each folder you mention is the 'mail account name' folder used to store all files to do specifically with mail storage for the account. When you have accounts that use the same server settings, the 'mail account name' folders may have same name as the server but additional ones will have a number appended so you can differentiate. AS in your case you use the Yahoo server. The yahoo server states you must use this incoming 'Server name': imap.mail.yahoo.com If this is a second yahoo mail account/email address you have created then you will see a 'folder' created in the profile for account storage of emails and it will append a number eg: imap.mail.yahoo-1.com Notice it uses the server name as part of the folder name.

When you are in the Account Settings and select 'Server Settings', at the bottom on the right in 'Local directory:..' you will see at the very end the name of the mail account folder and this tells you which profile and mail account folder that particular mail account is using for it's storage. AS you have shown in your image it uses the account name folder : imap.mail.yahoo-1.com

The Section at the top of the Account Settings > Server Settings - where it says 'Server name:' this is the name of the server which the account/email address will use to access the server. It is not an account name and it is not a folder and the 'Server name' data is not pointing to any folder even if it looks like a folder name displayed in the profile. In the image you supplied - that 'Server name' : was incorrect and you correctly edited it. An incorrect 'Server name' will mean you cannot access server with that bad name.

This additional information has been posted because for anyone reading this question, they may need to understand exactly what is a 'mail account', a 'mail account folder', that the 'Local directory' is where a mail account points to a folder being used to store emails etc and that the 'Server name' is not a folder, it is the name of the incoming server as dictated by the server which in this instance is Yahoo.

In the original question and I quote the person who posted the question "both accounts were pointing to one folder" That would mean both yahoo mail accounts the 'Local directory' information was pointing to same one folder. However, the issue was not about anything pointing to a folder. It was a Server Setting - in particular the 'Server Name' which was incorrect.

The postee of question was correct to say this needing to be edited and fixed, but incorrect in stating that information was 'pointing to one folder'. Hence causing some intial confusion.

As a heads up - do not use capital letters when you post comments as it implies shouting which is rude, unecessary and not encouraged in the forum - it's all to do with etiquette. After all, why would anyone want to be rude to someone they do not know and who offers help or advise or information which is freely offered in a voluntary unpaid capacity.

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ALL ... Obviously I am pretty confused by this issue ..... AND I'm an OLD MAN. My appologies as due.

I have prepared a complete explanation of the problem as best I can, as a .PDF doc

It is available for download HERE

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tlEWDzOjYYm5MfIxesU8Ptt5Xy9ahpQ8/view?usp=sharing

Modified by mminieri

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I am extremely confused by this issue .... AND I'm an OLD MAN! Appologies where due.

I have written a complete explanation as best I can, and made it available in .PDF

It can be downloaded at

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tlEWDzOjYYm5MfIxesU8Ptt5Xy9ahpQ8/view?usp=sharing

All help is appreciated sincerely.

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At this moment in time do you have both yahoo accounts in Thunderbird? If yes: In Thunderbird

  • Account Settings
  • Select 'Server Settings' for yahoo account.
  • Make sure window is wide enough so you can see all the data in the 'Local directory' -
  • Post image of the entire window.
  • Then select other yahoo email address 'Server Settings' and post image showing everything in that window.

This info will tell us which mail account/email address is using which mail account name folders in profile. It will also tell us whether you are using the correct authentication method and that method will also determine what password is used.


When you log on to your yahoo webmail account via a browser, it requires a password. For each email address account you access in Yahoo browser, you should use a different password.

Logon to the webmail account for email address address that starts with 'will' and then post an image of ALL the folders that you see in the left pane. The images you put into pdf only showed the default folders 'Inbox' down to 'Archive', what is below Archive? As this is an imap account connection I need to know if wrong folders have got uploaded to the server.

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