topic Re: Emails can't be opened in Email

Emails can't be opened

martnewb — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 18:24:54 GMT

My wife receives emails via Plusnet webmail. They appear in the Inbox OK but she is unable to open them to read the content. If I log on to Webmail on my phone using her credentials, I can both see them in the Inbox and open them to read.
Has anyone got any idea what we are doing wrong

Re: Emails can't be opened

Gel — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 18:40:16 GMT

Why not install a proper e mail client such as Thunderbird?

Re: Emails can't be opened

jab1 — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 18:47:17 GMT

@martnewb Has this been s recent issue, or long term? If they are visible in the webmail inbox clicking (or double-clicking) - I don't know as I don't use webmail - should open them as usual.

The fact that you have no issues on your phone strongly suggests the issue is with her desktop/laptop.

Re: Emails can't be opened

jab1 — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 18:50:30 GMT

@Gel wrote:
Why not install a proper e mail client such as Thunderbird?

Some people, especially older ones, find installing and configuring a mail client complex.

Re: Emails can't be opened

Townman — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 20:30:51 GMT

@martnewb

Can you please affirm that by “webmail” you mean accessing the email account using a web browser on whatever device.

Confusingly some people use “webmail” and “email” interchangeably … where in fact they are using an email client (program) on their device, NOT webmail.

Which brand email are we talking about?

There are issues at the moment being encountered by email clients used on old devices (notably Apple) which would explain exactly what you describe … but NOT if using “webmail” through a browser.

Again, if you’re using device base email applications … and your device has been properly updated by the vendor … but your wife’s device is old with no security updates you have an exact match to the known issues with obsolete devices.

Security certificates were updated to current security levels on Sunday night.

Re: Emails can't be opened

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 01:51:37 GMT

I remember an occasion when I misconfigured a forwarding of e-mails. The files arrived without a .eml extension and they were unreadable/inaccesible to to people using gmail. Possibly totally unrelated.

Re: Emails can't be opened

martnewb — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:57:57 GMT

Hello Jab1,
She has had this issue for the last couple of weeks. However all of a sudden yesterday the emails started to open, although there is quite a delay in opening as she has to use multiple double clocks to get them to open. I think we'll try adding the account to an email app, as she has Outlook on the laptop already.

Re: Emails can't be opened

martnewb — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:04:13 GMT

You are right in surmising that we are both seniors in age and probably not great at anything overly technical. I'll get some advice on how to add another account to Outlook.

Re: Emails can't be opened

jab1 — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:29:43 GMT

@martnewb Fair enough, although this sounds more like a hardware than program issue to me. What is the machine and operating system your wife is using?

Personally,I don't think adding the account to an app will particularly help, but it's your call.