[Solved] Cannot connect to Gmail in Thunderbird 3.1.2 [Troubleshooting]

I use Thunderbird as my offline email client and it’s been a really smooth ride since more than a year. But recently I ran an update [3.1.2] and restarted my PC only to find myself not able to connect to Gmail [using IMAP] on Thunderbird 3.1.2. Turns out the issue lies with Google’s servers. They have been changed. I don’t know whether this affects every offline email client (well, it should) but here’s a quick workaround to fix the problem.

» In Thunderbird, open Tools > Account Settings… > [your Gmail account] > Server settings. Change the Server name to ‘imap.gmail.com‘ (previously the server was imap.googlemail.com).

Gmail server settings in Thunderbird

» Then in the left pane, click ‘Outgoing Server (SMTP)’ edit the server name to ‘smtp.gmail.com’. Click OK.

» Now try to reconnect again. It will work.

Advertise here

BGS

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! Don't know if it resolves the entire problem, but I can at least read and store gmail again. Really pissed at MicroGoogle, which has gotten so quickly insensitive to we who support it. Hope it gets its comeuppance and has to eat a few ground-glass sandwiches. For now, I'll watch its competitors closely, to determine which ones to support in the future... BGS

share flag