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Why do I get multiple copies of the same message when I check email through programs like Thunderbird and Outlook?

Why do I get multiple copies of the same message when I check email through programs like Thunderbird and Outlook?


This is a problem with using the POP protocol. Your mail program forgets which messages it has downloaded, so it downloads the same ones again. The way to make this stop happening is to stop leaving messages on server (a setting in your mail program) or preferably, to stop using POP.

You can read about how to reconfigure your mail program here:

http://www.columbia.edu/cuit/software/email.html