First, you can change the interval to save drafts at settings>composition. Second, the fact that Thunderbird has difficulty in saving drafts and in saving sent messages for that one account is indicative of a problem with the account, not with Thunderbird. Third, you can change settings for this account to save messages to PC instead of to server if you can find no way to resolve the account problems.

Hi David,

Thanks for the reply.

1. Autosave is unchecked, so to my knowledge, it shouldn't even be trying to save drafts.

2. It could be an account issue, which is why I came here looking for help to find and fix the issue.

I thought maybe there was a corrupted file, or similar problem, since this only started happening after the latest update, and it only happened to this one account. Another account on the same server works fine. Same settings.

3. I don't save message on the server for any accounts.

Puzzling. Okay, I presume it is a POP account? I have 'official' response. My suggestion is to experiment for a workaround. First, I would set the feature of saving drafts to be every 120 minutes. That should remove the periodic attempts. Just a guess on my part, as there may be some default when unchecked. Again, just a guess on my part, as it doesn't make sense that it tries to save otherwise. My other suggestion is to set the folder to save sent messages in to a different folder, just to see if that works. Otherwise, the problem puzzles me. It is possible some settings in Thunderbird got corrupted and reinstalling the account may fix it, but that gets messy for POP accounts, as Thunderbird then attempts to download all prior messages.

Thanks, David. Yes, a POP account. Those are good ideas—worth a shot anyway. I'll give them a try and let you know.

Appreciate you!

David!

That worked on both counts. It's not ideal having sent mail go the wrong account, but I can live with it.

You have a good head on your shoulders, so let me get your opinion: I'm think of deleting the "sent" folder on the problem account and then adding a new sent fold back to it. Do you think that would cause any problems I don't foresee? Do you think it would work?

Thanks.

Thank you for your kind words. First, if you keep current structure, I suggest creating a folder under 'Local Folders' with name of the errant account, e.g., RogueSent. Then, in account settings, set the sent folder to that folder. All it accomplishes is that it keeps sent messages for that account separate from other accounts. I agree that putting the sent messages in sent folder for another account can be confusing.

Now, back to the main problem. Something I overlooked is that the 'bad' sent folder may just need repairing. To try that, - set the sent folder back to the proper assignment - from main pane, rightclick that folder, click 'properties' and then click 'repair.' - send a test message to yourself and see if it worked.

Okay, on your suggestion: it may work if above did not. Always worth a try. To try that - click help>moretroubleshootinginformation - scroll down to 'profile folder' - click 'open profile' - now exit Thunderbird, leaving the File Explorer window showing - if account is POP, click the Mail folder, if IMAP, the Imapmail folder - click the account and the folders should appear - the sent folder is two elements, names such as Sent and Sent.msf - delete both - restart thunderbird and reset default assignment back to original assignment if not already done - attempt to send message again.

My hope is that the repair did the trick, but I'll be equally pleased if your suggested solved it. And resorting to the LocalFolders isn't pure, but it works. Do let me know.

David,

It's fixed! I also think I know how it got messed up. Here are the details...

I'd already tried the folder repair several time before posting here and it didn't work. I tried it again though, and it still didn't work.

I started following your procedure and found there were two folders for this account. I'd changed web hosts and deleted the first account and set up a new account with the new host, but apparently the old folder didn't get deleted. So, I moved the folder for the old account to another location and tried it again, and still had the problem.

So then I deleted the folder and file you suggested and tried it again, and it worked!

So I think somehow that old folder not getting deleted caused the problem to begin with, but then I had to do the additional deletions to fix the problem. That also explains why the other accounts didn't have any problems.

Make sense?

Thank you, David, for all your time and expertise. You are a shining star!

Respectfully, Jane

You make me blush. I'm pleased all is okay. :)