So the problem is two fold. I cannot see emails in the in box (although in my profiles there are emails) and I cannot download any new emails. I have reinstalled thunderbird but nothing changed.

re: although in my profiles there are emails

I'm presuming this is a Pop mail account.

In Thunderbird

• Help > Troubleshooting Information

A new window opens showing the content of your Profile name folder.

• Exit Thunderbird now - this is important
• click on 'Mail' folder
• click on pop mail account name

Q: What is the size of the mbox file called 'Inbox' ? mbox files do not have any extension.

Do you have subfolders in 'Inbox' ? If yes, then you will also have a folder called 'Inbox.sbd'.

• Rename 'Inbox' (no extension) mbox file to say 'OldInbox'
• Delete 'Inbox.msf' file.
• If necessary, rename 'Inbox.sbd' to say 'OldInbox.sbd'

Start Thunderbird.

Does this create a new Inbox and allow you to receive new incoming mail?

Thank you for your reply. The size of the inbox you describe is 0. There is no subfolder I have done what you said and nothing changed. I do appreciate your help though.

Are there any other suggestions please?

re :I tried copying the inbox by dragging it

So the original inbox with 'hidden' emails has been moved/copied to where? Where is this folder now? Please post an image of your Folder Pane to help explain it's location.

The original inbox is in Mail/pop..... as old inbox. I cannot find all my email but have some in Inbox local folders on the screenshot. I m wondering if I have mucked it up further trying to make it work (without knowing what I am doing.

I notice you have an account which is called 'Eudora Settings'. 'Local Folders' has two inbox and also a 'Drafts' folder with a stored draft email.

How many pop mail accounts have you added to Thunderbird? Have you made some pop mail accounts as deferred accounts, more commonly called 'Global Inbox' accounts? A Global Inbox pop account will not display it's pop mail account name in the Folder Pane, instead it will auto accept incoming mail into 'Local Folders' mail account.

How to check this:

• Right click on 'Local Folders' mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings'

This opens the 'Account Settings' window. Q: How many mail accounts are listed in the left pane? Not including 'Local Folders'.

For each mail account:

• select 'Server Settings'
• click on 'Advanced...' button

'Advanced Account Settings' window opens Q: What is selected?

If you have selected: 'Inbox for different account' and the chosen account is 'Global Inbox (Local Folders)', then that pop account is set up as a deferred account. It should not be displaying in the Folder Pane. Make sure you have selected the checkbox: 'Include this server when getting new mail'. click on 'OK'

If you want the pop mail account to display in left Folder Pane and have it's own set of folders then you need to select: 'Inbox for this account' click on 'OK'

click on 'OK' to save and close Account Settings window. Restart Thunderbird.

Please report back on what you found and also tell me if you made any adjustments in Account Settings.

Again thank you for your reply. I have made images of the settings and not made any changes. I believe I am using only one pop account.

I have had the same settings for 18 months without any difficulty. The two inboxes are essentially the same and I have two after playing withe the inboxes trying to fix the issue.

is it time for me to reinstall from a backup and coy sent items from the current installation?

My email is now working. It stopped downloading email weeks ago and I lost the email in the inbox - that is the email I had not answered or filed. On return from holiday at the weekend I decided to use another computer and start with a brand new Thunderbird and download all the email from the server, delete what I had handled and then transfer the managed and sent email from the 'non working' version of TB. This took two days on and off.

Remember the error message I received from TB was "There is not enough disk space to download new messages. Try deleting old mail, emptying the Trash folder, and compacting your mail folders, and then try again." But following this made no difference.

So on one computer I had the new TB and on another, the old TB. I was checking the files to see what I needed to copy from the old to the new but had done nothing when I noticed that the old TB was downloading emails from the server going back 2 years. I had done nothing to prompt this. But I was very happy. The servers hold many more email than 2 years worth but old TB downloaded about 2 years worth of email instead of the 6 weeks I was missing. Thanks to Toad Hall. I am confused but happy.