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Thunderbird Not Receiving & Downloading Emails Error: Solved

  author
Published By Karen Chard 
Rollins Duke
Approved By Rollins Duke
Published On January 22nd, 2025
Reading Time 7 Min Read

Summary: This write-up is going to explain why Thunderbird not receiving new emails, the reasons behind this glitch, and how we can fix these problems using different methods. So read the complete information first and then select the best method that suits your needs best.

Thunderbird is an open-source email client that is effortless to access by users on Windows, Linux, Mac, etc. It helps the organization systematically manage large emails. Organizations mostly use this tool to manage massive amounts of email, facilitating access to all messages, files, contacts, calendars, and other data.

While using Thunderbird, users face many glitches. Sometimes Thunderbird not receiving new emails or Thunderbird hangs while downloading emails, and users are not able to access new messages, messages, contacts, documents, etc. There might be different reasons why Thunderbird does not download new messages.

Why Does Thunderbird Stop Downloading Messages or Emails?

The strong reason behind Thunderbird not receiving new emails can be an improper internet connection. Ensure you have enough disk space on your computer and that your email storage is not full. If Thunderbird is not updated, the user will also not be able to receive email. Some more reasons for not receiving emails are

  • Email Account Configuration: Verify your email account is signed in Thunderbird properly
  • Server Issue: See whether there is a problem with your email server. Usually, you may get this information by contacting your email provider’s support or by visiting their status website.
  • Antivirus: POP antivirus software is not blocking Thunderbird. You might need to add Thunderbird to the list of allowed programs.
  • IMAP/POP: If you are using IMAP, check that folders are synchronized. If you are using POP glitches, make sure that Thunderbird is set to download messages from the server.

To fix these glitches, we are going to discuss the manual method to repair the error that Thunderbird stop downloading messages.

How Do I Fix “Thunderbird Not Receiving New Emails” Manually?

There are multiple methods and tricks to fix the issues when Thunderbird stop downloading messages. These tricks or methods don’t have a 100% guarantee to fix the error. All the easy steps are given below:

#1: Verify Internet Connection

Please check your internet connection to see if it is not connected to your device. Sometimes, due to an improper internet connection, Thunderbird not receiving new emails.

#2: Firewall Check Email Account Configuration

  1. Firstly, open Thunderbird in your system
  2. Go to the “Tool” and click on the “Account Setting”.
  3. Select the email account you want to use from the left panel
  4. Go to the “Server Settings” and enter your login details to log in to your account.

#3: Check the Firewall and Antivirus Settings.

  1. Launch your firewall settings.
  2. Make sure that Thunderbird is allowed through the firewall.
  3. Open your antivirus software.
  4. Temporarily disable it to see if it’s blocking Thunderbird.

#4: Update Your Thunderbird

  1. Start Thunderbird in your system
  2. Go to “Help” and click on “Account Settings”.
  3. If an update is available, follow the prompts to install it.
  4. Updating the application can resolve the issue that Thunderbird not receiving new emails.

If still, Thunderbird stopped receiving emails after the update, then try another method to solve it.

#5: Verify Email Rules and Filters

  1. Launch Thunderbird.
  2. Select message filters under “Tools”.
  3. Verify whether any filters are directing incoming emails to different folders.
  4. Turn off or change filters as needed.

#6: IMAP/POP Settings

For IMAP 

  1. Open the Thunderbird email client on your system.
  2. Go to “Tools” and click on “Account Settings”.
  3. Select “Synchronization & Storage” under your email account.
  4. Make sure that the option to synchronize messages is checked.

For POP 

  1. Start Thunderbird on your PC.
  2. Go to Tools and click on Account Settings.
  3. Select Server Settings under your email account.
  4. Ensure that the option to leave messages on the server is checked if you want to access them from multiple devices.

#7: Fix “Thunderbird Not Receiving Emails” by Creating a New Profile

Sometimes the old account is corrupted due to Thunderbird stop downloading messages so we have to create a new Outlook profile.

  1. Open Thunderbird and go to the “Settings” icon
  2. Click “Account Settings” and then Click “Add Mail Account”.
  3. Enter your login details
  4. Check the “Settings” and “Configure Manually” and then Click “Finish”.

#8: Repair Corrupted Thunderbird Folders

  1. Launch Thunderbird in your system.
  2. By right click on the “Folder” select the “Corrupted Folder”.
  3. Click on “Properties” from the context menu.
  4. Lastly, click on the “General Folder” and click on the “Repair Folder” button.

Limitations of Manual Methods

The solutions that we discussed above are useful and might resolve the issue of Thunderbird not receiving new emails this might be caused due to corrupted files and folders or corrupted profiles. They also come with some more limitations such as

  • Complexity: The steps are more complex and time-consuming.
  • Data loss: If the methods are wrong, it might lead to the loss of important data, emails, etc.
  • Technical Expertise Required: This method requires technical expertise to follow the steps correctly.
  • Time-Consuming: These methods contain multiple steps that take a lot of time.

If your Thunderbird is corrupted or you want to protect your important email from such issues you can export your email from Thunderbird to another email client you can use the alternative solutions. It helps to export the Thunderbird profile data to another email client and also you can save the exported files in different file-saving formats.

Automated Method to Fix Thunderbird Not Receiving New Emails

To overcome the issues, users can use an automated solution that helps them solve the problem of Thunderbird stop downloading messages by using one of the best-automated tools, Thunderbird Migrator Wizard. Users can download this tool to overcome the limitations that they face with the manual method.

This tool has some advanced features that help the users extract all the files, emails, documents, address books, and contacts from them, then convert the file and save it to 35+ file-saving formats such as MSG, EML, EMLX, TXT, PST, MBOX, HTML, DOC, CSV, and PDF, etc.

How to Fix “Thunderbird Not Receiving New Emails”?

  • Step 1: Install & run the solution.
  • Step 2: Upload Thunderbird profile data.
  • Step 3: Choose all the required folders.
  • Step 4: Select the desired saving option.
  • Step 5: Put the filters and choose the saving path.
  • Step 6: Click on the “Convert” button to start the process.

Why Automated Tool Over Manual Methods?

  • Batch Migration: This solution helps to migrate Thunderbird files in batches, and you can save those files in a systematic order in different file formats at once without facing any file size limitations.
  • Maintain System Order: This helps manage the files in their original form and systematic order while fixing the “Thunderbird not receiving new emails” issue.
  • Seamless Migration: This tool provides advanced features that help the user import unlimited email and contacts.
  • Migrate Attachments: This tool helps the users migrate all the emails and attachments, such as images, files, documents, etc.
  • Free Trial: Users can use the free trial of the tool to ensure its functioning before ordering the license.
  • Migrate Thunderbird Contacts and Calendars: Users can easily migrate contacts from Thunderbird and save them in the CSV and vCard formats.

Final Comment

This article helps the user resolve issues Thunderbird not receiving new emails users cannot access their important emails. In this article, we discuss the manual method that helps to resolve the error, but these methods have multiple limitations that might not resolve the error of not sending and receiving emails, downloading email attachments, etc.

To get a better solution, there is an alternative solution that helps the users fix the error of Thunderbird stop downloading messages and helps the user access the emails easily from any device in any format.