Closed Bug 1284058 Opened 9 years ago Closed 9 years ago

multiple copies in Drafts folder

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Untriaged, defect)

Product:
Thunderbird
Component:
Untriaged
Version:
45 Branch
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: daviddenby, Unassigned)

Details

(Keywords: correctness)

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:47.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/47.0 Build ID: 20160604131506 Steps to reproduce: Start composing a message and have frequent long pauses during composition or compose a LONG message that takes several minutes to complete. Actual results: When I am composing messages to be sent from my SMTP account, multiple versions are being saved to my Drafts folder (instead of overwriting a single copy) and none of the drafts are deleted when I finally send the message. I see that others have reported similar issues with IMAP accounts but this is happening with a SMTP account and all on my local PC (mail server has NOTHING to do with it) Expected results: a single draft should have been created and periodically overwritten whenever TBird decides to make a new backup. Draft should be deleted once the final copy is sent.
Keywords: correctness
A few remarks here: TB autosaves drafts, by default every 3 (or 5) minutes: Tools > Options, Composition, General. Usually those the previous draft is superseded/deleted when a new draft is saved. We have seen occasions where superseded messages hang around, like in your case. It is usually a question of configuring the server settings (Tools > Account Settings, Server settings) correctly. What is and who provides your IMAP server? I don't agree that the server has nothing to do with it since this is a problem in the cooperation of client/TB and server. Also, you need to understand POP, IMAP and SMTP. SMTP is *always* used to send messages, POP is used to download messages, IMAP is used to access message stored on a server. There is no such thing as an "SMTP account". In an IMAP/SMTP scenario, the message sent via SMTP is later moved to an IMAP folder, unless it remains in a local folder. Drafts are also stored via IMAP while your composing your message. Another tip: If you don't need the drafts on the server, configure your drafts to go into a local folder (Tools > Account Settings, Copies & Folders).
Hi and thanks for the reply.. I think that you don't fully understand the situation. I have a POP/SMTP type account and my messages (sent and received) are only stored LOCAL. I have the settings configured to use local storage only. I emphasized the SMTP to differentiate that I am NOT using an IMAP type service. Again all of this is happening (composition and storage) LOCAL (on my PC only) and NOT on the server side. I do not store sent or drafts on the server.. only on my PC. As for the "correct" settings to prevent this from happening (again on my local PC) I would be interested in knowing what those settings might be. I looked in T-Bird to see if there was something obvious that controlled the Drafts, but was unable to find anything useful that would prevent multiple copies from happening.
correction: I meant to say.. "I have a POP/SMTP type account and my messages (sent and drafts) are only stored LOCAL." I delete received email from the server once I have downloaded it.
Sorry about the misunderstanding. So you have a POP/SMTP setup with a local drafts folder. That's what I'm running primarily. You shouldn't see any doubled-up drafts. I suggest to repair your drafts folder (right-click, Properties, Repair). We also had a bug where the drafts folder got corrupted and old superseded drafts suddenly sprang back to life (bug 1216914, access-restricted). But that was a rare occurrence. If the problem persists, please start TB in safe mode (Help menu, start with add-ons disabled) and try it, maybe you're suffering from an incompatible add-on. Which platform are you on?
Thanks again for the reply. I have T-Bird on XP(32) machine and a Win 7(64) PC.
Also a side question now that you mention add-ons... I have a number of (disabled) plug-ins in T-Bird and Firefox that I would like to make "go away". However, there doesn't seem to be a "Delete" or "Remove" functionality in either programs for plug-ins. Any suggestions?
If Tools > Add-ons doesn't show "Remove" buttons, you have some rogue add-ons installed. Check whether they can be uninstalled via the Windows uninstall process (control panels, programs and features). If nothing helps, remove the add-on from the extension folder in your profile, or the entire extensions folder. Now, these are really support questions that should be asked at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/thunderbird. We're only interested whether your drafts problem goes away when you run in safe mode. You can also start Thunderbird with -p to create a new profile.
Has this been resolved? I can't reproduce the problem and I think it's got something to do with your installation.
Flags: needinfo?(daviddenby)
It has not happened again since I reported it, but I haven't sent very many e-mails since then either. Can I re-open this if someone closes it and the issue happens again?
Flags: needinfo?(daviddenby)
Yes, bugs can be reopened. As I said, if in doubt, repair the folder and try using TB 47 beta which has a drafts folder corruption problem fixed.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 9 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
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