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Thunderbird times out with IMAP server on Gmail

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  • 2 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

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I've had the same problem for a while on both my computers. When sending a message, connecting to the IMAP server on Gmail can take a very long time, and often times out. I've already (1) checked that the problem is not my anti-virus (I use Webroot on both computers) and (2) deleted old files and compacted all of my folders. I don't see any recent entries with respect to Thunderbird and Gmail IMAP, and am wondering what other fixes people have found to be helpful.

I've had the same problem for a while on both my computers. When sending a message, connecting to the IMAP server on Gmail can take a very long time, and often times out. I've already (1) checked that the problem is not my anti-virus (I use Webroot on both computers) and (2) deleted old files and compacted all of my folders. I don't see any recent entries with respect to Thunderbird and Gmail IMAP, and am wondering what other fixes people have found to be helpful.

All Replies (5)

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Hello there jurgfella.

IMAP is always slower than POP when booting and ending, because the IMAP protocol must then always check (and solve) whether all "boxes" (INBOX, OUTBOX, etc.) on the server are identical to those on your PC. And all that checking requires of course computing power from the server, so with IMAP you will run faster against the limits of the server.

If the server (and / or the central disk storage, and / or their internet connection) are overloaded, that does not really help "fine tune" your mail client.

You have made your folders (inbox) compact that is good....

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sometimes when there is a last option to find out, a cleaner is sometimes also a solution. try running the cccleaner program once and run a scan late there are numerous option in the menu box.

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I do use CCleaner regularly, but that has not helped. Your explanation is reasonable, but why is this problem limited to Thunderbird? It does not seem to be a problem in the web-based version of Gmail.

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Hi there jurgfella.. Got youre message...

Hey hello you wondered if there are other solutions? I have found a few for you. You may download too many e-mails at once. Do the following to solve this: Update your IMAP settings so that you do not synchronize certain folders. Remove your Gmail account from your email client and then re-add the account. Go to your IMAP settings in Gmail and set up IMAP so that only folders with 10,000 emails or less are synchronized.

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How did you rule out Webroot as a cause? The best way to do that, short of removing it, is to run in Windows safe mode:

for W10, Shift+Restart, Troubleshooting, Advanced Options, Startup settings, Restart, 5.