Is this a POP or IMAP account?

First check to see you are viewing all of the folders.

• Menu app icon > Folders > select 'All'

Other things to check: If imap you should have a Trash folder, but it will be called whatever it is called on the server eg: Deleted Mail, Bin, Deleted Items, Trash etc. It should be subscribed by default, but see if you need to subscribe to see that folder.

• Right click on the imap mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Subscribe'
• click on 'Refresh'
• select the 'Trash' folder and click on 'Subscribe'
• click on OK

Then check to see you are using that folder in the Account Settings.

• Right click on the imap mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings'
• Select 'Server Settings' for the account

When I delete a message:

• Select 'Move it to this folder' and then choose that folder you have subscribed to see eg: Trash on mail account'.

Please report back on results.

HI,

Thanks for your reply. My system uses IMAP. I did what you suggested but still no Trash folder in the folder pane. It's there in the 'subscribe' box and was already checked so I unchecked it, closed Thunderbird and re-opened it. Still not in the folder pane. Also, in the 'move it to this folder' box in account settings there is no option to nominate Trash. As a matter of interest, about a month ago, over 100 deleted e-mails from the past 3 years appeared in my inbox which I then had to re-delete. Very strange,

Cheers,

Ian.

re : It's there in the 'subscribe' box and was already checked so I unchecked it, Did you 'Refresh' the subscribe list? Have you reselected the 'Trash' folder in the 'Subscribe' list and clicked on Subscribe and OK? I need to understand your current selection.

re :Also, in the 'move it to this folder' box in account settings there is no option to nominate Trash. You would need to select to subscribe to see it and it would need to be visible in Folder Pane, then it would be available to select in the Account Settings.

But was 'move it to this folder' selected ? If yes, what folder had been selected ? If no, what option was selected? What is currently selected?

If you logon to the webmail account via a browser what is the exact spelling of the name for the Trash folder on the server? Some servers call it 'Trash' others call it 'Deleted Items' or 'Bin' etc. Do you have more than one folder for Trash perhaps with a different name? What server are you using eg: gmail, yahoo, comcast, aol etc ?

Whilst logged on to webmail account, check all 'trash' folders to see if the 'deleted' email is in any of them and if located, move it back to the Inbox.

What do you have in this location: Menu app icon > Help > Troubleshooting information Under 'Application Basics' about 8th in list is 'Profile Folder' - click on 'Open Folder' button

A new window opens showing contents of your profile name folder. Click on 'ImapMail' folder to see list of all imap accounts. Click on the name of the imap account folder Make sure you have 'view' set to show details Make sure window is big enough to show all contents.

Post an image (or additional images if required) showing the contents of the imap account name folder.

Yes, I refreshed the 'subscribe'list and clicked OK after checking Trash. Currently, all folders are checked.

Trash still not in folder pane so not available to select in Account Settings.

'Move to this folder' is selected and Deleted is currently selected. (no option to select Trash)

How do I logon to the webmail account via a browser?

See the attached image of the contents of the imap account folder.

I notice you are using BT and they definately have a server folder called 'Trash'. But this is a link: https://home.bt.com/login/loginform

I also notice you have a 'Trash.msf' file, which was recently accessed and a 'Trash.sbd' folder which implies you have subfolders as if you had deleted a folder at some point. You only seem to have mbox files for 'Sent' and 'Spam', so it does seem odd that you are choosing to keep full copies of sent and spam email and not incoming mail in Inbox.

Right click on the imap mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings' Select 'Server Settings' for the account Click on 'Advanced' button 'Show only subscribed folders' - Is this selected ? If yes, then uncheck that option to see if we can force a display and click on OK.

Select 'Synchronisation & Storage' for the account at the top 'Message Synchronising' 'Keep messages in all folders for this account .....etc' Is that checkbox selected ? If no then select it. click on 'Advanced' Do you see all the folders ? Are they all selected ? They should all be selected. Click on OK

Then Exit Thunderbird and allow a little time for background processes to complete. Restart Thunderbird and tell me if the 'Trash' folder appears in Folder Pane.

Located the Trash folder in btinternet but that doesn't help me. I only keep incoming mail in my inbox and then delete it after reading . 'Show only subscribed folders' was already unchecked. 'Keep messages in all folders for this account' was already checked. Clicked on 'Advanced' and not all folders selected so I selected them all. No Trash folder there. Switched computer off for a while and restarted, still no Trash folder. Could the files be corrupted in somehow? What about uninstalling Thunderbird and downloading it again? Would that be complicated?

Menu app icon > Help > Troubleshooting information Under 'Application Basics' about 8th in list is 'Profile Folder' - click on 'Open Folder' button

A new window opens showing contents of your profile name folder. Now Exit Thunderbird. This is important.

Scroll down , locate and delete these files:

• folderTree.json
• panacea.dat
• session.json
• xulstore.json

Click on 'ImapMail' folder to see list of all imap accounts. Click on the name of the imap account folder You will see a 'Trash' file as MSF type at the bottom of the list as per image posted previously. Delete that 'Trash.msf' file.

Start Thunderbird.

I followed the above instructions but still no Trash folder in Folder Pane, even though it's still checked in the subscribe box. I am attaching an image of the start screen, Cheers, Ian.

re: the folder called 'DELETED' In the drop down list where you subscribe to see a folder, is the folder called 'Deleted' in that Subscribe list and is it selected ? It should be selected.

• Right click on the imap mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings'
• Select 'Synchronisation & Storage' for the account

at the top 'Message Synchronising' click on 'Advanced' Do you see a folder called 'Deleted' ? If yes, Is it selected to ensure full copes of emails?

The folder you see called 'Deleted' is the current Trash folder that holds deleted emails and is also the folder selected in Account Settings to hold deleted emails. In the profile mail account folder, it will be called 'Trash' - not 'Deleted' - just to confuse the issue:) So there will be a Trash mbox file and a Trash.msf file. If you delete an email, it should appear in the 'Deleted' folder.

If you logon to the webmail account, do you see a 'Trash' folder AND a 'Deleted' folder ?

I also note that you have a 'Junk' and a 'Spam' folder. the 'Spam' folder is one the server uses and 'Junk' is something Thunderbird normally creates by default for pop mail accounts or if you create it. If you logged on to BTMail webmail account, I suspect you would see both of these folders.

I'm now thinking that that this might have something to do with the server. There is BTMail and BTYahoo and recently BT have been migrating BTYahoo accounts back to BTMail. The migration of all accounts was originally expected to be competed by end of 2020, but it's not surprsing if it takes longer. So it is possible some of the BTYahoo folders have got migrated over to BTMail.

Hi, The 'Deleted' folder isn't in the Subscribe list but 'Trash' is so I suspect they're the same folder. Also, in my webmail account there isn't a 'Deleted' folder there either, just 'Trash' so that would figure. It could well be something to do with BT as you suggest. So, as Thunderbird is working OK apart from my not being able to retrieve deleted e-mails, I am just going to leave well alone! I've been using Thunderbird for several years now and my wife also uses it on her laptop and we are both very satisfied with it. Thank you very much for your help (and patience!) and I shall be giving an online donation in gratitude, Cheers, Ian.