Not receiving Globalnet emails

[#1]

I’ll try and keep this simple. Basically my gloabalnet.co.uk email account is no longer receiving emails.

Emails were being received in Plusnet Webmail but being opened and read initially in Microsoft Mail but subsequently in Microsoft 365 Outlook. Once read they were either moved to a folder within Outlook or deleted at which time they were automatically removed from Plusnet Webmail.

My Plusnet Webmail Inbox – Drafts – Sent – Junk – Deleted Items are all showing ‘No messages found in this mailbox’. Going to the symbol at the bottom left ‘Folder Actions’ and clicking on ‘Manage Folders’ about 80-100 folders are shown none of which were generated in Plusnet Webmail but imported from Microsoft Mail and Microsoft 365 Outlook folders automatically. All these folders are unchecked and therefore empty in Plusnet Webmail.

I have opened an Outlook email account so I can at least get some emails using a new Outlook email address. This is a stand alone email client account but has also been integrated with my Microsoft 365 Outlook account together with my Globalnet account.

I have since opened a trial Mailbird email client on the advice of Plusnet support using only my Globalnet account. All my folders from Microsoft Mail and Microsoft 365 Outlook have been moved over to Mailbird automatically some are empty whilst others contain emails. However, my Mailbird inbox has received no globalnet.co.uk emails which are not being sent as I assume there is a mailbox capacity issue somewhere.

Plusnet support are trying to trace the problem but their technical departments say there are no problems on their side. Microsoft support say there are no issues on their side and Mailbird are receiving nothing. I can still send emails from my globalnet.co.uk account.

All my emails have been coming through Globalnet, my sole email address since their inception and I need to keep this email address and all my saved emails. Due to extra security precautions I am now locked out of a number of accounts that require email verification. This is a financial disaster that will only get worse.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

[#2]

My Plusnet Webmail Inbox – Drafts – Sent – Junk – Deleted Items are all showing ‘No messages found in this mailbox’. Going to the symbol at the bottom left ‘Folder Actions’ and clicking on ‘Manage Folders’ about 80-100 folders are shown none of which were generated in Plusnet Webmail but imported from Microsoft Mail and Microsoft 365 Outlook folders automatically. All these folders are unchecked and therefore empty in Plusnet Webmail.

I suspect you've exceeeded you storage quota on the mail server. If webmail can even 'see' the existence of those folders then they are IMAP folders and will be stored on the mail server. The fact that they are unchecked, just means that webmail won't access them!. You need to create 'local' folders in Outlook and move some of your emails to them to reduce the space used on the mail server.

BTW Plusnet webmail is nothing special, its just another IMAP mail client which happens to run on a plusnet server and presents a web interface. It uses the same email storage on the mail server as any other IMAP mail client.

[#3]

Thank you for your reply which makes plain English sense. I am convinced I exceeded my storage quota but did not realise saved messages in Microsoft 365 counted towards this quota. I was under the impression that once received in Outlook and removed from Plusnet my Plusnet boxes were all empty. I'm disappointed that Plusnet Customer Service could not offer any explanations similar to yours especially as this seems quite a common problem.

I opened a bog standard stand alone Outlook email address which seems ok. Microsoft also combined my globalnet account with this Outlook address in my Microsoft 365 Outlook app. which on reflection may not have been a good idea. I will get a stand alone gmail email as well.

I also opened a Mailbird account purely for globalnet just to see what would happen. This received all folders created in Microsoft 365 and its predesessors over the last 10 years (globalnet was my sole email address) including some I'm sure I never created. I've been through these folders in Mailbird and deleted most saved emails. I've also started deleting the folders in Mailbird.

I notice I have over 120 folders stored on Plusnet Webmail (similar to Mailbird)  despite not having created any. They must have all migrated over from Microsoft, but all are listed as unsubscribed. I'll start removing them but if unsubscribed would they have any effect on quota?

I want to keep my globalnet email address, but also seperate Outlook and Gmail email addresses and thus spread emails around a bit. I think I'll keep Mailbird for globalnet and see what happens with Microsoft 365 Outlook. What are your views on this idea?

The good news is that since emptying many folders globalnet emails have started coming through again.

So thank you very much for your last message and look forward to your views on my way forward.

[#4]

There can be a deal of confusion over parlance here.

"saved messages in Microsoft 365"

"once received in Outlook"

"This received all folders created in Microsoft 365"

"I want to keep my globalnet email address, but also seperate Outlook and Gmail email addresses"

What do you mean by "in Microsoft 365"?  In fact what do you mean by "Microsoft 365" in this context?

It does not help that Microsoft uses the same generic label to mean different things.  Outlook / Microsoft 365 can mean the email service provided as @outlook.com etc., the Office Applications (Excel, Word, Publisher and Outlook to name but a few) ... and for the latter, the web email interface, the mail application shipped with Win10 / Win11, the application available for Android / Apple devices and the "proper" Outlook email program for PCs and MACs.

Using Outlook proper to access your Globalnet mailbox, if configured as an IMAP client does not remove mail from the email server when it "receives" email.  It simply synchronises its view of the mail box with what is on the server (and also seen via the webmail application).

You can have the Outlook email client connected to a multitude of email accounts - unless each is configured as a POP3 client (which I would not recommend) then though you can see all of the emails (connected to the internet or not) they do remain on their respective servers.  What you might consider doing is either set up local folders and move emails you want to keep from the Globalnet folders to the local folders ... but do remember to set up a rigorous local file back up strategy for the outlook .PST files.

[#5]

Thank you Townman, I tried to make my message as clear as I could but I agree Microsoft don’t make things easy. My references are :

Microsoft 365 Outlook = the Outlook service in Microsoft 365 their premium annual paid suite of office applications.

Once received in Outlook in this context is saved in a folder in Microsoft 365 Outlook as above.

Outlook email account = an Outlook email address as a stand alone email client account with an Outlook email address. As you rightly point out.

Once read in Microsoft 365 Outlook the email is automatically removed from the Plusnet Web Server inbox. I assumed this also removed the email from the Plusnet Web Server which does not appear to be the case as you point out.

The Outlook proper as you term it is only set up and used for receiving and sending emails using a separate outlook.com email address and has no link with my Globalnet email address.

However, both my globalnet.co.uk and my outlook.com email addresses have both been set up on Microsoft 365 Outlook. I hope that makes sense. (I think its what you alluded to about the Outlook email connecting to a multitude of email accounts. Except mine are linked to Microsoft 365 Outlook).

As you will see in a previous message I’ve also opened a Mailbird account and am considering a gmail email account if I can see how to keep it separate from letting globalnet connecting to it.

Simply put I want to receive globalnet, outlook and gmail emails independently and save them. But the email clients all seem to integrate / synchronise with each other and saving emails overloads the servers as happened with globalnet.   

Your comment ‘What you might consider doing is either set up local folders and move emails you want to keep from the Globalnet folders to the local folders ... but do remember to set up a rigorous local file back up strategy for the outlook .PST files’ is probably what I need to do but beyond my knowledge base I think I.m not very email savvy.

On the bright side having deleted many saved emails and folders globalnet emails have resumed coming through.

[#6 · Accepted solution]

I think in the context, the Outlook service is probably accessing the Globalnet account as an IMAP client. There by it syncs with the mailbox and does not remove them from the mailbox.

[#7]

All my email settings are IMAP. If I delete an email in one email client it is deleted in all email clients, which I assumed deleted them from the Plusnet server. This apparantly is not the case. I have managed to delete many saved globalnet emails and folders in the folders list in Mailbird.

I assume by doing this it has created storage space on the Plusnet mail server which in turn has allowed emails to to be sent.

You can tell I can operate a computer after a fashion but have little knowledge on what to do when things don't work as expected. Provided emails continue to be received I'll be happy and will delete as many as I can. Other than deleting emails how do I ensure emails are removed from the Plusnet server so I don't face this issue in the future?

Many thanks for your advice. You can't begin to realise how much help and reassurance you've given me.

[#8]

If all of the clients are IMAP then deleting on one client deletes on all clients. Note that usually “delete” is actually a move to the trash folder.

Some IMAP clients create their own sent items folder - thus giving rise to multiple sent folders on the server. Also IMAP clients might not display all folders. They need to be subscribed to all folders to have a consistent view. To do that, some clients need the IMAP folder root to be set to inbox

[#9]

What you say is what is happening. I clear my inbox (other than emails I want to keep) and empty all trash boxes regularly.

But simply put : 1. Where and how can I save important emails? 2. How do I ensure emails are cleared from the Plusnet server mailbox? (I don't want to reach the capacity limit again).

This should be easy but I'm getting more confused as to what to do and how to do it.

[#10]

@Clive3 in principle , you create Local folders, which are folders in which mail is stored on your PC and not on the server. You then move mail from the Inbox to these folders.

I'll let @Townman explain in more detail how this is done since he's familiar with Outlook ( I've never used it! )

[#11]

@Clive3 

As an alternative to creating LOCAL folders in Outlook, if you have an @outlook.com email account, I would suggest that you create storage folders in that service and then move the emails you want to keep from other accounts into those.  That avoids the desirability of backing up local .PST files.

[#12]

Yes thank you. I've googled how to create local folders but just got more confused. 

[#13]

OK....yes I have an @outlook.com account.

So, I open seperate files in that account and send @globalnet.co.uk emails to the outlook account where I move them to the new folder.

Presumably I can then delete the email from the inbox and then trash box from the Plusnet webmail client.

How do I then make sure it is removed from Plusnets web server and not adding to my limited capacity. I don't want this getting full and stopping emails again.

Sorry to be so confused and I hope you understand the above and thank you for your patience with me.