How Can I Change an Account in Thunderbird to Use the Global Inbox?

Thunderbird's Global Inbox can fill quickly, collecting incoming email from several accounts.

Checking multiple accounts in Thunderbird can get tedious after a while. Clicking on an inbox, scanning it new messages, reading them, then repeating the process again for each email address... it can get old. Thunderbird's Global Inbox helps to reduce the monotony. All email accounts configured to use the Global Inbox deposit new messages into a central inbox rather than into their individual inboxes. Knowing how to activate the feature can be tricky, however. Older versions of Thunderbird gave you the option to enable the feature during account creation, but you'll need to tweak your account settings manually in newer versions.

Instructions

1. Launch Thunderbird.

2. Click "Tools" > "Account Settings." An Account Settings dialog box opens.

3. Click the "+" icon next to your account name in the navigation pane. A list of several options expands underneath your name.

4. Click "Server Settings." The basic server settings for your account appears in the main pane of the dialog box.

5. Click the "Advanced" button in the main pane. A smaller second dialog box opens.

6. Check the radio button next to "Global Inbox (Local Folders Account)."

7. Click "OK" on both open dialog boxes to save the changes.

Tips & Warnings

• Any messages in any of the existing folders for the account will disappear when you configure the account to use the Global Inbox. Move any emails you'd like to keep into the appropriate Local Folders location -- trash, inbox, et cetera -- before you enable the Global Inbox for your account. If you forget to do so, switch your account back to its normal inbox setting to restore your original folders.

References

• MozillaZine: Global Inbox
• The Email Mafia; Use 'Global Inbox' on POP Accounts; April 2010
• Joinfu: Thunderbird Rocks in Global Inbox Mode