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Sent messages only appear in the sent folder after restarting Thunderbird

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Rich Bos

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Hi, my problem is that sent messages do not appear in the sent folder unless I restart Thunderbird. I have the sent 'copies' box de-checked as if not although it syncs I end up with two copies (of sent messages).

I am using Thunderbird 31.2.0 on OSX Yosemite connecting via IMAP to ZOHO mail with STARTTLS on 587 for SMTP.

Hope you can advise, I've tried SSL/TLS on 465 also and it is the same. It's a bit of an inconvenience not being able to view the sent messages.

Many thanks

Hi, my problem is that sent messages do not appear in the sent folder unless I restart Thunderbird. I have the sent 'copies' box de-checked as if not although it syncs I end up with two copies (of sent messages). I am using Thunderbird 31.2.0 on OSX Yosemite connecting via IMAP to ZOHO mail with STARTTLS on 587 for SMTP. Hope you can advise, I've tried SSL/TLS on 465 also and it is the same. It's a bit of an inconvenience not being able to view the sent messages. Many thanks

All Replies (5)

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Try this: Tools > Account Settings > Copies & Folders for the imap mail account When sending messages automatically Select: 'Place a copy in' Select : 'Other' and the 'Sent folder on imap mail account' Note: the Sent folder might be called something else on the server like 'Sent Items' click on OK.

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Hi, thank you for the reply but it is something I have already tried and unfortunately it doesn't address the issue, in fact it creates another. As previously stated if I have the copy box checked, although the sent mail appears, it replicates and I end up with two copies. ZOHO, like Hotmail/Outlook, automatically places a copy of sent mail in the sent folder, and as such the 'Place a copy' box should be de-checked (or you end up with two copies). The problem is that if connected to ZOHO via IMAP Thunderbird doesn't show sent messages unless restarted. For example from my phone client when I send a message it is instantly visible in the sent folder, as it is with other desktop mail clients such as the OSX mail app. It's an issue with Thunderbird, perhaps a bug?

Modified by Rich Bos

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Hi, thought I would update as I have made 'some' progress, I haven't fully resolved the issue as I would prefer but I'm almost there (or maybe this is as good as it gets).

I discovered that under 'server settings/advanced' for the mail account there is a setting for the number of server connections to cache, which by default is set to 5, by dropping this to 1 the sent messages appear in my IMAP folder either when mail is checked (if the sent folder is set to be included at check) or if you click to another folder and then back to sent. Obviously this is much better than having to restart the application and by knowing that's the case I can work with it.

Just to reiterate, as this is ZOHO mail the 'place a copy in' check box is not selected, this is because by default ZOHO places a copy of sent mail in the sent folder anyway.

Hope this has helped someone, it was driving me to distraction.

Modified by Rich Bos

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Zoho like so many now is in violation of the RFCs to be placing a copy in your send folder. But that is not all that relevant to the issue, other than being the root cause.

Modifying the max connections should have no effect, although your seeing one. Are you using another IMAP device, such as a phone (Particularly and Apple phone)? Switch it off and see if your still needing to limit connections.

When the issue is present Go to the Tools menu and select the error console. Clear it immediately before you send your mail and then report the errors that appear. (The console is mostly junk, hence the clearing first) Because if the connection to update the server is silently failing that needs to be reported as a bug.

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Interesting to know (the RFC violation) but as you say, perhaps not relevant as such, although if ZOHO wasn't auto-placing a copy in sent then I could check the 'place a copy in' option and it would work ok. Anyhow, I tried your recommendations and yes, I use both an Android and an iPad to also check my mail but with both disconnected from Wi-Fi the problem still persists. There are a few warnings being reported in the TB error console on the Mac but they just relate to 'mso-table-lspace' for my INBOX.

And for info in Thunderbird on my Ubuntu laptop the problem is exactly the same -

'Place a copy' checked - Messages instantly appear in the sent folder but there are two copies.

'Place a copy' de-checked/Cached connections = 5 - Messages only appear in the sent folder after restarting Thunderbird

'Place a copy' de-checked/Cached connections = 1 - Messages appear in the sent folder on clicking out of the folder and back in.

On Ubuntu there is nothing at all in the error console.

I can work with how things are at this stage as I don't live in the sent folder (rather the inbox), and when you click into it (with the connections cache at 1) the messages do appear, so I suppose that's actually ok.

Modified by Rich Bos