Thunderbird Global Inbox

When creating a new account

When you create a new POP mail account in Thunderbird, the Account Wizard will ask if you want to use the Global Inbox for that account. If you do, then make sure that the box for this feature is checked. If you don't, then make sure the box is unchecked.

If you often create new accounts, you can set the default in the Account Wizard by setting the preference mail.accountwizard.deferstorage to true (to check the box by default), or false (to clear the box by default). In a new Thunderbird profile this preference does not exist initially, so you must create it as a new Boolean preference.

Changing the Global Inbox setting for an existing account

To change the Global Inbox setting for an existing account, you need to follow three simple steps.

Change the destination Inbox

Go to "Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings" and click on the "Advanced" button. A dialog box will then pop open.

To set the account to use the Global Inbox, select "Global Inbox (Local Folders Account)" and click "OK".

Important: if the account already has messages in the Inbox or other folders, you should copy or move these messages into Local Folders before setting the account to use the Global Inbox. If you don't copy or move the messages into Local Folders and you set the account to use the Global Inbox, the account will no longer be displayed in the folders pane and you will not be able to access those messages unless you go back and undo the Global Inbox setting.

To set the account to not use the Global Inbox, select either "Inbox for this server's account" or "Inbox for different account" and click "OK".

Check settings for other folders and filters

After you have changed the account's setting for which Inbox to use, see if any of the following need to be changed:

• Go to "Tools -> Account Settings -> Copies & Folders", and look at the destination folders for Sent, Drafts, and Templates. Make sure that the messages for each will be stored in your preferred folder locations.
• If you are using junk-mail filtering for the account, go to "Tools -> Account Settings -> Junk Settings" and verify that the folder selected for Junk messages is the one you want to use.
• If you have set up any filters, go to "Tools -> Message Filters" and make sure that they will work properly with your new Inbox configuration. Especially important if you are changing an account so that it will start using the Global Inbox: if you have set up any filters that sort messages into any of the folders for the account, you should disable/delete those filters or change the destination folders.

Exit and restart Thunderbird

Important: exit Thunderbird and restart before downloading mail into any account whose Inbox/Global Inbox setting you've changed. If you do not exit and restart, messages might continue to download into their "old" locations (e.g., into the individual account Inbox rather than the Global Inbox). Furthermore, you may lose current messages in the old mail folders!  It's best to setup Global Inbox when you create the account!!!