Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Cannot see contents of one e-mail when viewing on Google, why?

  • 2 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by jvanpotter

more options

A recent e-mail was found to show as blank when viewed in Thunderbird and on g-mail. Previous e-mails of the same type (a weekly newsletter from my Boy Scout troop) are visible in Thunderbird, but not when viewed in my g-mail account. All these seem to be viewable when I use IE8 (on XP) to access my g-mail account, or if I use Safari on my iMac. I can also view the content of the e-mail when downloaded to my iPad.

Something in Firefox is causing this e-mail content to not appear when viewed on Google's server. Unfortunately, that problem now extends to Thunderbird also.

This is a showstopper: if I can't solve it, I have to cancel my plan of installing Thunderbird on my iMac and migrating my e-mail to it. I'll have to come up with a completely non-Mozilla solution.

A recent e-mail was found to show as blank when viewed in Thunderbird and on g-mail. Previous e-mails of the same type (a weekly newsletter from my Boy Scout troop) are visible in Thunderbird, but not when viewed in my g-mail account. All these seem to be viewable when I use IE8 (on XP) to access my g-mail account, or if I use Safari on my iMac. I can also view the content of the e-mail when downloaded to my iPad. Something in Firefox is causing this e-mail content to not appear when viewed on Google's server. Unfortunately, that problem now extends to Thunderbird also. This is a showstopper: if I can't solve it, I have to cancel my plan of installing Thunderbird on my iMac and migrating my e-mail to it. I'll have to come up with a completely non-Mozilla solution.

All Replies (2)

more options

Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support to see if that has effect in case security software is causing problems.

See also:


You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • Hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • Press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • Press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the cache and remove the cookies from websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Clear the cache":

  • Firefox/Options/Preferences -> Advanced -> Network -> Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"

"Remove the cookies" from websites that cause problems.

  • Firefox/Options/Preferences -> Privacy -> "Use custom settings for history" -> Cookies: "Show Cookies"

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
  • Do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
more options

Tried the Firefox safe mode after deleting all cookies that had anything to do with Google, but problem still remains. If security software is the problem, I think it would affect the performance of IE 8 also, but that works (with the expected warning messages from Google that the browser is unsupported). This problem (not displaying contents of e-mail) exists only with Firefox and Thunderbird. I've decided to search for another option for moving my mail from old PC to new iMac: for now, I'm not installing any Thunderbird or Mozilla software on it, Safari works just fine.