Is anyone else having issues with delays in Tbird due to IMAP?
Hello everyone,
I'm fairly new to Tbird, having migrated from Eudora (as a last resort) only a couple months ago.
I'm running Windows 7 PRO, and the latest version of Tbird. Have plenty of hard drive space.
I'm getting frustrated with (what I consider to be) the VERY slow recall of Tbird messages from my inbox. I'm talking about messages which already show up in my Inbox. When i go to those (to read or access the files attached), it seems to take an interminable amount of time...particularly when trying to load/save the attached files. For what it's worth, I am downloading some fairly large Excel files.
Is there a way to speed this up? The delays are becoming a nuisance...to the point that I am logging into my AOL account online (going around the Tbird system entirely) when I am in a hurry.
Someone suggested running Tbird with add-ons disabled. That seems to help, but I'm not sure how to do this permanently (seems to revert).
Any suggestions?
I'm seriously considering re-configuring back to POP mail instead of IMAP (which is what I was doing on Eudora).
Thanks in advance.
Isisombulu esikhethiweyo
It's an option, for sure. IMAP is great if you access emails from more than one device, or using webmail, or with little local storage space like tablet/phone. POP - you have the only copy, be sure to keep backups... but if you use only one device and don't need a long history of messages accessible on webmail it may be the choice for you. Also means you are unlikely to hit any email provider storage limits. More here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pop-vs-imap/ Agnes
Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 1All Replies (4)
Hi It may be partly because of the different way that IMAP works, rather than Thunderbird itself. This is really simplified ... POP downloads the whole thing, attachments and all, so that the initial check for mail takes longer. IMAP downloads headers, and only pulls the rest of the message and attachments when you view/open the message. So, reviewing new messages is quicker, but opening a message with a large attachment takes longer. Then add all the usual other reasons that the Internet itself may be slow - AOL server load, traffic, etc. Myself - I see the same effect with large attachments when using IMAP, even with a corporate mail server. Also beware sending or forwarding with attachments too quickly - sometimes the attach hasn't finished when the message sends. Anyone else with better help please jump in! Agnes
I see...makes sense.
So let me ask you this: Why not go back to POP? It seems to me that having the entire message (including attachments) on my laptop is ALWAYS going to be faster than the process you described.
The downside, from what I can see, is the "sychronization" feature.
But the upside is that the items are downloaded BEFORE you need them.
Am i wrong?
Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo
It's an option, for sure. IMAP is great if you access emails from more than one device, or using webmail, or with little local storage space like tablet/phone. POP - you have the only copy, be sure to keep backups... but if you use only one device and don't need a long history of messages accessible on webmail it may be the choice for you. Also means you are unlikely to hit any email provider storage limits. More here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pop-vs-imap/ Agnes
That (one device vs many) really seems to be the issue.
Unlike most people (I guess) my laptop is always with me. The phone is secondary when it comes to email.
Thanks! Your comments helped point me in the right direction (for me).