I can only speak for Gmail, as that is a setting done on the website forGmail.

It's not GMail. I don't understand your answer. This is Thunderbird to which I'm referring.

Stop holding the shift key while deleting is all I have to offer. The keyboard shortcut to bypass the trash/deleted folder is to hold shift while the delete occurs. ie shift+Delete

But "Stop holding the shift key while deleting"? I've been doing that for years. Why all of a sudden does the trash folder come up empty? The folder is there but no e-mail are in it.

BTW, the trash folder only shows under "local folders". I don't know if that makes a difference. I think there used to be a trash folder somewhere else in the list of folders. Thanks.

My Gmail content was, if you were referring to a Gmail account there is a website setting that causes Thunderbird to delete immediately. Obviously, not relevant to your situation. On your comment, there are normally trash folders for each account.

@david, what is the website that I can go to to undo that setting? I never set it to delete all the trash in the first place so have no idea why it's happening. Thanks.

That comment of mine was only regarding Gmail, and you're not using that. So, I don't know what you're seeking.