Creating folders and choosing the right folder for Sent, Drafts and Deleted

With IMAP, your folders are stored on our server. So a folder you create in Thunderbird also shows up in webmail and on your phone, and the other way round.

Creating a folder

1. In the folder pane, right-click Inbox or your email address.
2. Choose New Subfolder….
3. Type a name and click Create Folder.

Drag messages to the folder to move them. Hold down Ctrl (Option on a Mac) while dragging to make a copy instead.

You can't see a folder

Can you see a folder in webmail but not in Thunderbird? Then you're not subscribed to it.

1. Right-click your email address in the folder pane and choose Subscribe….
2. Tick the folders you want to see and click OK.

Sent, Drafts and Archives in the right folder

Do you use Thunderbird, webmail and your phone side by side? Then make sure they all use the same folders for sent mail and drafts. Otherwise your sent mail will end up in a different folder on your phone than in Thunderbird.

1. Click the menu button, choose Account Settings and click Copies & Folders under your address.
2. Under Place a copy in:, choose the option "Sent" Folder on: and then your own email address. Don't choose Local Folders: those are only stored on this computer.
3. Do the same for Keep message archives in: and Keep draft messages in:.

Do you see two folders with almost the same name, such as Sent and Sent Items? Then choose the folder where your phone and webmail put your sent mail. Move the messages out of the other folder and then delete it.

What happens when you delete something?

Under Server Settings you'll find When I delete a message:. Choose Move it to this folder: with the Deleted folder of your address. That way you can still recover a message. With Empty Deleted folder on Exit, the Deleted folder is emptied every time you close Thunderbird.

Tip: Lost something anyway? You can restore a mailbox to an earlier day with WebOké Backups (see An email was deleted by accident).

Your mailbox is getting full

Every mailbox has a maximum size. Once it's full, no new mail can come in (see Storage per mailbox and what happens when it's full). Free up space by deleting old mail with large attachments and then emptying the Deleted folder.