Says inbox is full when it has no messages.
I just received the message "The folder Inbox is full, and can't hold any more messages. To make room for more messages, delete any old or unwanted mail and compact the folder".
At the time I received the message, I had only 383 messages in the Inbox folder. In the past I have had 3 times that amount and never had a problem. I emptied all of the emails from Inbox into another folder, and am still receiving the same error message.
This only began occurring after I downloaded the latest Thunderbird update.
All Replies (18)
Did you Compact the folders? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/compacting-folders
Thanks. I tried that and then restarted, but it still is not working.
Go to your providers webmail page and log into your account there. What does the Inbox look like there?
Are you talking about an Imap Inbox or a Pop Inbox? Is this a gmail account?
Check the folder Size: 'View' > 'Layout' > select: 'Folder Pane Columns' or 'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Layout' > select: 'Folder Pane Columns'
then select to see 'Size' column in Folder Pane. see image below. What Size is shown ? If nothing is stated then it is empty.
My Gmail inbox looks fine.
Toad, you might be right. The Total has no number, but the Size says 4087MB.
Is there something I need to correct in Tbird, or Gmail?
Thanks.
Right click on Inbox and select: Compact
Then Check some settings: Right click on imap gmail account in Folder pane and select 'Settings' select 'Server Settings' for the gmail account 'Message storage' Select: 'Clean up (Expunge) inbox on exit' click on OK
Close Thunderbird and wait a short while for background processes to complete. Restart Thunderbird. Check Inbox Size.
Before I do any of this, how do I back up all of my emails that I already have? I want to make sure I don't lose anything.
How to make a backup.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb
I thought you said you already Compacted the Folder?
Thanks.
I did compact the folder, but I didn't know that meant it saved all of the emails.
If my Gmail Inbox shows 2.92GB being used, why does the Tbird Inbox say it's 4087MB?
Have you done this?: Right click on imap gmail account in Folder pane and select 'Settings'
- select 'Server Settings' for the gmail account
- 'Message storage'
- Select: 'Clean up (Expunge) inbox on exit'
- click on OK
- Close Thunderbird and wait a short while for background processes to complete.
- Restart Thunderbird.
Check Inbox Size.
If I do that, will any of the messages from my Gmail account be erased?
If so, I don't want to do that. I erase some messages from Tbird, but want to keep them on Gmail. That way, if Tbird crashes and I lose all my messages (which has happened before) I will still have the original message in Gmail.
If you have an imap mail account then the folders you see in Thunderbird are one and the same as those on the server, which you can also see via webmail account because they are synchronised. Anything you do in Thunderbird will also happen on the server. That includes moving emails between imap folders and deleting.
Gmail do archive, keep all copies of emails received and sent in the 'All Mail' folder. Emails are only deleted from the 'All Mail' folder if emails are put in the gmail Trash Bin. So it is possible to delete from Inbox, but still keep a sort of backup in the 'All Mail' folder. Please read the info at this link: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78755?hl=en
Additional: Please read info at this link regarding Deleting:
At the link above, click on the 'Thunderbird drop down' It has the recommended settings, which say not to expunge. Expunging compacts the Inbox and physically deletes the marked as deleted emails from the Inbox, but that clears the MB size of hidden marked as deleted emails.
Modified by Toad-Hall
Thanks.
I have a POP Mail Server. Does that make any difference?
incompletetb said
If my Gmail Inbox shows 2.92GB being used, why does the Tbird Inbox say it's 4087MB?
Because you have not compacted to release the space allocated to your delete mail
Thanks everyone, the problem is fixed.
Another question for you guys since you know so much about TB: can I install TB on all of my computers and have them all access the same Gmail account without messing anything up?
Thanks again.
incompletetb said
can I install TB on all of my computers and have them all access the same Gmail account without messing anything up?
Usually not an issue with IMAP, there can be issues when you have lots of concurrent connections. Gmail gets upset that you apparently look like a business. Otherwise there should not be issues other than the occasional password rejections as you have used all the available connections.