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Can’t I get back the left-side pane that used to show all local folders? Now I only see one, using Go>Folder>Local Folders>Inbox (or Sent, or whatever).

  • 5 replies
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  • Last reply by pmbrown

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The subject line adequately states the problem; if I'd known I'd have all this space to elaborate, I wouldn't have spent an hour getting the problem statement down to 155 characters!

I attach an image of the top left of my Thunderbird screen, which is pointless if your image is as small as mine. The tab shows as "Inbox" but the left pane that I'm used to, showing the other local folders, isn't there. As described on the subject line, I can get to any other local folder by successively clicking on Go > Folder > Local Folders > Inbox (or Sent, or whatever), but that's four clicks when one used to suffice. I suppose I could learn to click first on Go (rather than View, say), but it's still a nuisance.

I reached this web page from Help on the Thunderbird screen; the expedition went > https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/thunderbird > "Contact Us" > https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/contact/spaces/ > "Contact Us" > "Need help with Firefox? Get it on our support site" > https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/ Thunderbird > "Ask a Question" > "Thunderbird" > "Other" > https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/thunderbird/other > "Can’t find an answer? Summarize your question in a sentence" / "Ask this" — followed by lengthy efforts to get my problem stated in 155 characters. Surely someone inexperienced with a problem shouldn't have to go through so long a journey?

The subject line adequately states the problem; if I'd known I'd have all this space to elaborate, I wouldn't have spent an hour getting the problem statement down to 155 characters! I attach an image of the top left of my Thunderbird screen, which is pointless if your image is as small as mine. The tab shows as "Inbox" but the left pane that I'm used to, showing the other local folders, isn't there. As described on the subject line, I can get to any other local folder by successively clicking on Go > Folder > Local Folders > Inbox (or Sent, or whatever), but that's four clicks when one used to suffice. I suppose I could learn to click first on Go (rather than View, say), but it's still a nuisance. I reached this web page from Help on the Thunderbird screen; the expedition went > https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/thunderbird > "Contact Us" > https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/contact/spaces/ > "Contact Us" > "Need help with Firefox? Get it on our support site" > https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/ Thunderbird > "Ask a Question" > "Thunderbird" > "Other" > https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/thunderbird/other > "Can’t find an answer? Summarize your question in a sentence" / "Ask this" — followed by lengthy efforts to get my problem stated in 155 characters. Surely someone inexperienced with a problem shouldn't have to go through so long a journey?
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Hover your mouse over the left margin of Thunderbird, watch for it to change to a double headed arrow, !eft click, hold and drag right. Did that pull the Folder Pane out? The Thunderbird window has to be maximized when doing this.

If this does not work start Thunderbird in safe mode and see if it works. You do this from the Help Menu or by holding the Shift key while starting Thunderbird.

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All Replies (5)

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I understated the seriousness of the problem. It isn't just a matter of a few extra clicks. Without any way of calling up a folder pane, I have not found a way of creating new subfolders. The instructions I have found all start by saying to right-click on a folder in the folder pane, but I don't have one!

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I am on an Android and trying to go by memory. View-Layout-Folder Pane

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"Folder Pane" is greyed out. Clicking doesn't do anything. Thanks anyway.

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Chosen Solution

Hover your mouse over the left margin of Thunderbird, watch for it to change to a double headed arrow, !eft click, hold and drag right. Did that pull the Folder Pane out? The Thunderbird window has to be maximized when doing this.

If this does not work start Thunderbird in safe mode and see if it works. You do this from the Help Menu or by holding the Shift key while starting Thunderbird.

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Airmail's first suggestion worked! Thanks. I didn't know that it was possible to resize a maximized screen.