FM IMAP Inbox emails not sent to email client
 

Greetings,

This is not a new problem - I've actually been enduring this literally for years and finally posting here.

I'm a long-time user of both FM and Mozilla Thunderbird email client (v102.6.1) with IMAP. Generally this has worked well for me for many years - with one exception.

I have an ongoing problem whereby incoming emails in my FM Inbox are not being downloaded to my TB email client. The occurrence of "stuck" emails seems random and usually occurs infrequently. Currently I have 8 such emails "stuck" in my FM Inbox dated back to Jan1, 2023. Also note I've specified "Clean up ("Expunge") Inbox on Exit" for the FM server settings in TB. Obviously, this is not happening for those emails "stuck" in the FM Inbox.

To be clear, I don't know if this is an FM problem or a TB problem.

Has anyone here experienced such a problem while using the TB email client or any other email client?

If so, I'd like to hear about it and especially any resolution. TIA

Are you using the special Fastmail app password for Thunderbird as you cant use your normal everyday fastmail password.

Go to settings, password & security, then third party apps

But you may already be doing this.

Thanks. Yes, I'm using the special FM password. Otherwise, I'd be unable to retrieve any emails from the FM Inbox. Usually all goes well with no problem so can't be an invalid password problem.

But do you have an app password to use in Thunderbird
You cant use your fastmail login password.

Server imap.fastmail.com
Port 993
SSL/TLS Encryption Enabled, but not STARTTLS
Username Your Fastmail email address, including the domain.
Password Your app-specific password. You cannot use your regular Fastmail password.
Root folder/IMAP path prefix (leave blank)
Folder separator / (forward slash)

The most likely explanation is that these emails are malformed in some way.

Are you using port 993

I use POP port 995 as I like to leave my emails with fastmail.

Perhaps start out again with a new account and a new Fastmail password.

Could you clarify what you mean by "stuck". Do they show up in the Inbox message list within Thunderbird? If so, what happens when you click on one? Can you read the message? Is the issue that, although readable within Thunderbird, the messages do not download to be available for offline viewing (also being a potential performance issue if the messages are large)?

My normal approach to an issue like this would be to create a new Thunderbird profile, in case something is messed up in Thunderbird that is causing the problem. I would say there is at least a 50% chance that will resolve matters.

EDIT: Another possibility, if everything appears to work except that you cannot delete the messages is that it is a folder expunge issue. What can happen is that messages are marked for deletion, but still remain in the folder because the folder has not been expunged. If the issue is only an apparent inability to delete, read up on IMAP expunge to understand the problem, and find potential circumventions.

No. Your message does not describe the problem.
I currently have 8 emails "stuck" in my FastMail inbox. All 8 are dated 'Jan 1' (2023). They do not appear in my TB inbox. So not an "expunge" issue. Those "stuck" FM inbox emails are not being downloaded to my TB client on my PC.

'Encryption Enabled' enabled is not an option - only 'Encrypted Password' (for 'Authentication Method')

I've never run into this problem with Apple Mail, so I would think it's a TB problem. Since you're using IMAP and presumably have all of your mail stored on the server, have you tried simply deleting the account in Thunderbird and setting it up again?

So, the issue as I understand it is that the messages exist (or seem to exist) in the FM Inbox, but they are not visible via IMAP in Thunderbird.

Were they ever visible within Thunderbird? If so, it might actually be an expunge issue, with Thunderbird suppressing showing the messages because they are marked for deletion. If they never showed in Thunderbird, I would try manipulating them in Fastmail, by moving them to another folder and then back again. If that all works, but Thunderbird still cannot see them, I strongly suspect a corrupted Thunderbird profile, and would create a new profile.

That makes a big difference, you previously wrote "dated back to Jan1, 2023" which suggested an ongoing problem, but it now seems to be a short-lived glitch.

If you haven't already tried this I would suggest shutting down TB, opening webmail and moving the emails to a different folder. Then see if TB picks them up. I don't know if TB has somewhere where it logs errors. If it does then checking that after a failure might be useful.

My Thunderbird has Normal Password NOT Encrypted. I also have SSL/TLS

Oh make sure you are using fastmail.com not Fastmail.fm in the settings