Outgoing / Sending message fails on Spectrum email (formerly Time Warner Cable)
I've switched back to using Thunderbird on a Windows 10 desktop, after many years of settling for Microsoft and using Outlook via the Office Suite provided by the university where I teach. Now I've quit Office; tired of it being destroyed by buggy updates. Switching to Thunderbird, everything so far has gone well, except for one very frustrating problem. My most important personal email account (with all personal, friends, family, and private matters) is all on a Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable) email account. That is, Spectrum is my ISP and so I have used a ".rr.com" account for years. Thunderbird works like a charm with Gmail. It also synchronizes with the Spectrum/ TWC server as far as downloading all the files and folders from there perfectly. But it is unable to send mail via this account (which has been my principle account for years)/. I can't get any help from Spectrum. I am sincerely hoping to get help here! I'm attaching screenshots to show what the ISP says are the correct settings for the SMTP server, and what I have on Thunderbird so far. I hope you can figure this out, and tell me what I'm doing wrong. Thanks a lot, in advance.
Chosen solution
In Account Settings, Copies & Folders, check that the target for sent messages is the same as the one in webmail. It may be named Sent Items or Sent. Then check that the correct folder is subscribed.
Check that your security/AV app is not scanning outgoing mail, in fact, exclude the TB profile folder from AV scanning.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (12)
Try mail.twc.com on port 587, with Connection security = None, authentication = password, transmitted insecurely and User name = email address.
Thank you for the reply. I'm getting closer. This time, Thunderbird says the message was sent but was not saved to Sent mail due to network or access errors. Do I want to save it to local "sent" folder. Do I need to change the IMAP settings to get it to work without this error?
Somehow that setting has caused my Sent mail folder to suddenly appear to be empty in Thunderbird, where it had been synched with Sent mail on the server before. Know why that happened???
I'm becoming afraid to reopen Thunderbird for fear that it is going to empty my Sent mail folder on the server. Please if you have knowledge of why this is happening! The Sent mail on the web page contains all but the last test message as of now. So what TBird told me was true. It sent the test, but did not save it.
Chosen Solution
In Account Settings, Copies & Folders, check that the target for sent messages is the same as the one in webmail. It may be named Sent Items or Sent. Then check that the correct folder is subscribed.
Check that your security/AV app is not scanning outgoing mail, in fact, exclude the TB profile folder from AV scanning.
Hey SFHowes, I'm trying to do that... via the Windows Defender settings. I've got thunderbird.exe set as "allowed" through the firewall. And I've managed now to get the Thunderbird Profile folder (in "Roaming"... I thought it would be in "Local"... but eventually found it.) It worked like a charm! Brilliant. There remains however that now my "Sent" mail, which should be loaded with messages, as it was only a short time ago. Remains empty of all but the last two or three test messages I am sending. I hate to take so much of one person's time! But do you have an idea how I can restore that folder's contents in Thunderbird? It ought to be synched with the server!
First, I would copy the existing sent messages in webmail to a new backup folder created in webmail. Then, right-click the Sent folder in TB, Properties, Repair Folder, to re-sync the folder. and see if all the sent messages download.
You're correct! TB is now saving outgoing mail in the "Sent" folder, newly created in webmail. Previously in webmail, the folder for sent mail is called "Sent Mail"... I presume that was created by Spectrum, and then was used by Outlook until a couple of weeks ago when I stopped using it. But copying the existing sent messages is the right thing to do. No doubt. I will work on that. TB, now that the firewall and scanning issues have been solved, now has both my "Sent" and "Sent Mail" folders, which I think means that it is all safely both on the server and in my profile on the hard drive here. Which I will now back up!
Thank you for this immensely important help. I'm in your debt; I really mean it, and appreciate it.
For people who also have this problem that I have, the remaining issue is that there are now separate folders for sent mail; one for mail sent from the webmail interface; another for mail sent using Thunderbird. I think that is going to continue, unless I find a way to combine them. The longer they remain separate, the more it may get confusing. It would be better for me as a user to have a single, chronological listing. The webmail "structure" used by Spectrum now is the old Time Warner Cable structure, and it is full of issues like this. One can't just move mail into a "sent" or "sent mail" folder, due I suppose to rules regarding how that folder receives and saves.
If Spectrum forces mail sent through webmail into Sent Mail, can you not set TB to store sent messages in Sent Mail, subscribe to Sent Mail, and unsubscribe to Sent?
In the Copies & Folders there is a check box for "place a copy in "Sent" folder on... and then I select the email address. If that box is not ticked, the mail is still sent, but no copy is saved. I am surprised that there appears no option to store sent messages in Sent Mail in TB. See next post. My reply contains an error!
Modified by bwp123
My mistake! There is a way to use Sent Mail as the location. I found it... and thank you again. I didn't recognize before that there was a folder list in each account of the "Other" list. But the folders are all listed there.