I realize Thunderbird is not really the focus here, but the only reason I’m using Thunderbird for my email is because I switched to Linux - Mint Cinnamon, to be precise. My Thunderbird is hiding my spam mail from me. I can’t find emails that go there when they shouldn’t. Most recently, emails sent to me from my husband seem to always go to junk, as Thunderbird calls it, and it has become a serious problem. I have tried adjusting settings, but so far haven’t found the magic solution. If I go to my email account through a browser, there are a lot of messages in the spam folder, but Thunderbird doesn’t show them at all. How do I fix this? Suggestions, anyone?
Hey @PrettyGranny!
It would depend on which account you’ve linked with Thunderbird. I personally love the application as it’s - by far - the most secure and private than many I’ve tried. And I’ve tried quite a few (free and paid).
In general, Thunderbird picks up the spam settings from the email service you have your account in. So, if it’s GMail, Thunderbird will also create a “GMail” folder below the local folders for your account. Once you open that, you will see the entire folder/label structure that GMail has, including its spam folder. Anything that is considered to be spam (from GMail), will be located there. 
It’s a Yahoo account. Ultimately I want to switch to a private mail server (my own), but for now, I need to be able to find my spam from time to time. I tried to find something similar to what you described, but while I do have a Junk folder under my Inbox, it’s empty. If I look at the account from a browser, there’s LOTS in spam.
In the Yahoo case, the actual Spam folder is called “Bulk Mail”. If you open it, it will download all the… spammage!
I’m not seeing a folder called Bulk Mail. Can’t imagine how I would miss it, but it isn’t there. Suggestions? Should I consider reinstalling Thunderbird to see if it will show up?
Hello, @PrettyGranny!
Normally, the Bulk Mail appears on all Yahoo Accounts. This is a screenshot from my Yahoo email on Thunderbird (folders):
If you don’t see it, then select your email address with a right click and hit “Subscribe.” A window like the one below will appear with all your online Folders you wish to sync with Thunderbird.
Please keep me updated! 
I followed your instructions and made certain I was subscribed to Bulk Mail folder, but still don’t see it. 
. The Junk folder is always empty. I’m completely stumped!
That’s a first, to be honest! When you go to the subscribe menu, are all the folders in there checked?
Yes, and since checking Bulk Mail it now appears on my phone, just not in Thunderbird.
This morning when I had restarted my computer, Bulk Mail appears. It is empty, despite the fact that when I look at my email from a browser, there is plenty in the spam folder. Now I will watch to see whether spam goes there.
Good morning @PrettyGranny!
Normally all of the spam goes to Thunderbird’s Bulk Mail. The Yahoo that is. The Gmail one follows a different folder structure.
One thing to keep in mind is the following:
When your account is new on Thunderbird, the app itself will prioritize the following:
- Download all the message headers in your inbox
- Download the full messages in your inbox
- Check for messages in secondary folders you may have and download the headers, then the full messages and attachments
It generally leaves the Spam and Sent folders for last - or you can trigger them in the priority list once you pay those folders a visit. However, if there’s already a download process ongoing, this will take some time - depending on how big your mailbox in. Eventually, it just might be a matter of time. I know I have a Gmail account I built back in 2005 and it has around 16GB of data in it (it’s a 31GB size, back when Gmail was in beta and was adding space by the day). That one takes about a day or two to fully download.
I had used Thunderbird for more than 2 weeks before reporting my problem with not seeing spam messages. Now after subscribing to Bulk Mail, today when I logged into my Thunderbird, I suddenly have them all there, 424 messages to review and delete. It’s working! Thanks for your help!
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Yup! Thunderbird is a bit slow to download all the low priority messages, which is why it took so long for them to appear. Keep in mind that it stores a local backup on your system, so you won’t even need to be online to view them. 
And it’s my pleasure, as always!