Sent mail when copy to folder is turned off

[GeraldR]

I just sent out an email using Thunderbird with a new identity. I mistakenly turned off "Place a copy in: Sent items". How can I get a copy of this sent email?

[BritTim]

Originally Posted by GeraldR

I just sent out an email using Thunderbird with a new identity. I mistakenly turned off "Place a copy in: Sent items". How can I get a copy of this sent email?

Unless you both (i) are using FM's SMTP server (mail.messagingengine.com), and (ii) have specified in the FM personality that you want messages automatically saved to a server side folder, then I do not believe there is a straightforward technical method to recover a sent email. I would send a follow-up email explaining the situation to your correspondent and asking him to forward a copy back to you.

[FredOnline]

Could you clarify a few things:

Are you using IMAP in Thunderbird?
Have you checked in local folders for the sent e-mail?
Do you mean a new "Thunderbird Identity" or a "Fastmail Alias"?

[GeraldR]

Originally Posted by BritTim

Unless you both (i) are using FM's SMTP server (mail.messagingengine.com), and (ii) have specified in the FM personality that you want messages automatically saved to a server side folder, then I do not believe there is a straightforward technical method to recover a sent email. . . . .

Thank you for the suggestion.

I am using the FM smtp server and "Sent Items on SMTP - Also save to folder when sending via email software" is checked for the default personality. The Sent items folder is set as "Sent Items". Is that were an sent smtp message would go? I still don't see my sent email

[GeraldR]

Originally Posted by FredOnline

Could you clarify a few things:

Are you using IMAP in Thunderbird?
Have you checked in local folders for the sent e-mail?
Do you mean a new "Thunderbird Identity" or a "Fastmail Alias"?

I am using IMAP in Thunderbird.
Good idea. Local folders was empty.
I mean a new T-bird identity.

[n5bb]

Originally Posted by GeraldR

...I am using the FM smtp server and "Sent Items on SMTP - Also save to folder when sending via email software" is checked for the default personality. The Sent items folder is set as "Sent Items". Is that were an sent smtp message would go? I still don't see my sent email

If you sent the message with a From email address with matches the email address in a personality, then the Sent Items on SMTP setting will be applied, and the message should be in your Sent Items folder on the Fastmail server. If more than one personality has that same email address, then I think there is no guarantee of which one will be used in this case.

What is important isn't the default personality, but instead the (hopefully unique) personality whose email address setting matches the From address used by the email client when sending through the Fastmail SMTP. I just double-checked this behavior, and a copy of the message sent via Thunderbird was saved in my Sent Items folder at the Fastmail server just as I described above.

If you were offline (no Internet connection) when you tried to send that message from Thunderbird, then the message should be in your Thunderbird Local Folders > Outbox folder until you come back online. At that time, by default you should get a popup dialog box which asks, "Do you want to send your unsent messages now?".

And remember that if that new identity in Thunderbird was set to a non-Fastmail SMTP, then the Fastmail server settings are moot, so be sure to check that setting.

Bill

[GeraldR]

Originally Posted by n5bb

If you sent the message with a From email address with matches the email address in a personality, then the Sent Items on SMTP setting will be applied, and the message should be in your Sent Items folder on the Fastmail server.
. . . .
Bill

That's what tripped me. The from address did not match any personality. Too late for my email I will fix the problem. Thanks for the explanation.

[n5bb]

If the message was sent from an email client through the Fastmail SMTP and the From address does not match any Fastmail personality, then the default personality settings will be used. So whatever you have set in the Sent Items and Sent Items on SMTP fields for your default personality (listed with an asterisk*) will be used. I just checked and indeed this is what happens.

Bill

[GeraldR]

Bill,

Thanks for checking that. Somehow it missed working for me. Could be a bug or could be operator error. When I get some time I will do some experiments.

Gerald

[Kudbe]

Originally Posted by n5bb

If the message was sent from an email client through the Fastmail SMTP and the From address does not match any Fastmail personality, then the default personality settings will be used.

In my testing, an unmatched From address does not use the default personality's Sent Items on SMTP setting.