🕒 Delay in Receiving Emails

If you're noticing long delays in receiving incoming emails in Mailbird Next, don't worry. Although rare, this issue can usually be traced to IMAP server connection limits, and it's typically easy to resolve or mitigate with a small settings change.

For background on how Mailbird Next connects to your mailbox, see IMAP Support in Mailbird Next.

📡 A Quick Word on IMAP

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is the standard protocol Mailbird Next uses to keep your mailbox in sync with your email provider. Because IMAP keeps every connected device in sync, it also means each app or device you use opens its own connections to the mail server — and that's where most delay issues come from.

⚠️ Reasons for the Delay

IMAP servers have a maximum limit on the number of simultaneous connections they allow. If this limit is exceeded, some email apps may be denied access, causing delays.

Here's a common scenario:

• Gmail allows 15 simultaneous connections per account.
• Yahoo allows fewer than 5 simultaneous connections per account.
• Mailbird Next uses 5 connections by default.

This means that if you're also using a mobile email app (e.g. iPhone Mail), a second desktop client (e.g. Outlook), or webmail in your browser (e.g. Gmail.com), you can easily exceed the connection limit.

Once this happens, one or more of your apps may slow down or stop receiving emails altogether.

Other factors can also contribute to slower sync, even when connection limits aren't the issue:

• Very large mailboxes — initial sync of many years of mail and attachments can take time.
• Provider throttling — some providers intentionally slow down clients that fetch too aggressively.
• Slow or unstable internet connections — IMAP needs a steady connection to keep folders in sync.

📘 Learn more from Google: Gmail IMAP connection limits.

🔧 How to Fix the Delay

You can reduce connection usage in Mailbird Next by adjusting a simple setting. Here's how:

1. Open Mailbird Next.
2. Click the gear icon (⚙️) to open Settings.
3. Go to the Accounts tab.
4. Select the email account experiencing the issue from the left-hand menu.
5. Click on Settings at the top of the window.
6. Scroll to the Connections slider at the bottom and set it to 2.
7. If delays persist, lower the slider further to 1 and test again.
8. Click Save to apply the changes.

Allowing Mailbird Next to use the maximum number of connections will generally offer the best performance, but reducing them can help when you're hitting your provider's connection limit.

📱 Reduce Connections in Other Apps Too

Adjusting Mailbird Next alone may not be enough if other clients are still using a lot of IMAP connections to the same account. For best results, also reduce simultaneous connections (or sign out) in:

• Other desktop email clients (e.g. Outlook, Apple Mail).
• Mobile mail apps (e.g. iPhone Mail, Gmail app).
• Webmail tabs left open in your browser.

🤝 That's It!

After adjusting the connection settings, you should gradually see a noticeable improvement in email delivery speed. In fact:

• It may take a few hours for this adjustment to be detected by your email server, and for overall performance to improve. This is beyond our control.
• We strongly recommend reducing the number of connections used across all other email apps you use (e.g. iPhone Mail, Outlook, etc.) for best performance.

❓ Need More Help?

If you're still experiencing issues or have more questions, contact our support team — we're always here to help.