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# FairEmail
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If you have a question, please check the frequently asked questions below first.
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At the bottom you can find how to ask other questions, request features and report bugs.
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For support on authorizing an account you should consult the documentation of your provider.
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* Gmail / G suite: see [question 6](#user-content-FAQ6)
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* Outlook: see [question 14](#user-content-FAQ14)
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Frequently requested features:
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* Previewing message text in notification/widget: this is not possible because the message text is initially not downloaded.
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* Swipe left/right to go to previous/next message: swiping also selects message text, so this would not work reliably.
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* Rich text editor: besides that very few people would use this on a small mobile device, Android doesn't support a rich text editor and most rich text editor open source projects are abandoned.
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* Widget to read e-mail: widgets can have limited user interaction only, so a widget to read e-mail would not be very useful.
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* Executing filter rules: filter rules should be executed on the server because a battery powered device with possibly an unstable internet connection is not suitable for this.
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* Resize images: this is not a feature directly related to email and there are plenty of apps that can do this for you.
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* Calendar events: opening the attached calendar file should open the related calendar app.
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* Snooze timer: snoozed emails are not supported by [IMAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Message_Access_Protocol).
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Since FairEmail is meant to be privacy friendly, the following will not be added:
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* Show images without confirmation
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* Show original message without confirmation
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* Open links without confirmation
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* Hide addresses: addresses play an important role in determining if a message is authentic
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Confirmation is just one tap, which is just a small price for better privacy.
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Note that your contacts could unknowingly send malicious messages if they are infected with malware.
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## Frequently Asked Questions
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<a name="FAQ1"></a>
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**(1) Which permissions are needed and why?**
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* have full network access (INTERNET): to send and receive email
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* view network connections (ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE): to monitor internet connectivity changes
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* run at startup (RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED): to start monitoring on device start
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* in-app billing (BILLING): to allow in-app purchases
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* foreground service (FOREGROUND_SERVICE): to run a foreground service on Android 9 Pie and later, see also the next question
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* prevent device from sleeping (WAKE_LOCK): to keep the device awake while synchronizing messages
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* Optional: read your contacts (READ_CONTACTS): to autocomplete addresses and to show photos
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* Optional: find accounts on the device (GET_ACCOUNTS): to use [OAuth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OAuth) instead of passwords
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<a name="FAQ2"></a>
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**(2) Why is there a permanent notification shown?**
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A permanent status bar notification with the number of accounts being synchronized and the number of operations pending is shown
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to prevent Android from killing the service that takes care of receiving and sending email.
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Most, if not all, other email apps don't show a notification with the "side effect" that new email is often not or late being reported.
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Background: this is because of the introduction of [doze mode](https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby) in Android 6 Marshmallow.
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<a name="FAQ3"></a>
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**(3) What are operations and why are they pending?**
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The low priority status bar notification shows the number of pending operations, which can be:
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* add: add message to remote folder
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* move: move message to another remote folder
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* delete: delete message from remote folder
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* send: send message
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* seen: mark message as seen/unseen in remote folder
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* flag: add/remove stars
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* headers: download message headers
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* body: download message text
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* attachment: download attachment
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Operations are processed only when there is a connection to the email server or when manually synchronizing.
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See also [this FAQ](#user-content-FAQ16).
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<a name="FAQ4"></a>
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**(4) How can I use an invalid security certificate / IMAP STARTTLS / an empty password?**
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Invalid security certificate: you should try to fix this by contacting your provider or by getting a valid security certificate
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because invalid security certificates are insecure and allow [man-in-the-middle attacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack).
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If money is an obstacle, you can get free security certificates from [Let’s Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org).
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IMAP STARTTLS: the EFF [writes](https://www.eff.org/nl/deeplinks/2018/06/announcing-starttls-everywhere-securing-hop-hop-email-delivery):
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"*Additionally, even if you configure STARTTLS perfectly and use a valid certificate, there’s still no guarantee your communication will be encrypted.*"
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Empty password: your username is likely easily guessed, so this is very insecure.
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If you still want to use an invalid security certificate, IMAP STARTTLS or an empty password,
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you'll need to enable insecure connections in the advanced settings and also in the account and/or identity settings.
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Additionally, IMAP STARTTLS needs to be enabled in the account settings too.
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<a name="FAQ5"></a>
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**(5) How can I customize the message view?**
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In the advanced settings you can enable or disable:
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* *compact message view*: for more condensed message items and a smaller message text font
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* *show contact photos*: to hide contact photos
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* *show identicons*: to show generated contact avatars
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* *show message preview*: to show two lines of the message text
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If the list of addresses is long, you can collapse the addresses section with the *less* icon at the top of the addresses section.
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Unfortunately, it is impossible to make everybody happy and adding lots of settings would not only be confusing, but also never be sufficient.
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<a name="FAQ6"></a>
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**(6) How can I login to Gmail / G suite?**
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Preferably select Gmail as provider and select an account on your device.
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To login to Gmail / G suite you'll often need an app password, for example when two factor authentication is enabled.
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See here for instructions: [https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833).
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If this doesn't work, see here for more solutions: [https://support.google.com/mail/accounts/answer/78754](https://support.google.com/mail/accounts/answer/78754)
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<a name="FAQ7"></a>
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**(7) Why are messages in the outbox not moved to the sent folder?**
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Messages in the outbox are moved to the sent folder as soon as your provider adds the message to the sent folder.
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If this doesn't happen, your provider might not keep track of sent messages or you might be using an SMTP server not related to the provider.
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In these cases you can enable the account option *Store sent messages* to let the app move messages from the outbox to the sent folder after sending.
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There is a menu to move sent messages to the sent folder after enabling this option.
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<a name="FAQ8"></a>
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**(8) Can I use a Microsoft Exchange account?**
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You can use a Microsoft Exchange account if it is accessible via IMAP.
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ActiveSync is not supported at this moment.
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See here for more information: [https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-is-a-microsoft-exchange-account-47f000aa-c2bf-48ac-9bc2-83e5c6036793](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-is-a-microsoft-exchange-account-47f000aa-c2bf-48ac-9bc2-83e5c6036793)
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<a name="FAQ9"></a>
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**(9) What are identities?**
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Identities represent email addresses you are sending *from*.
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Some providers allow you to have multiple email aliases.
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You can configure these by setting the email address field to the alias address and setting the user name field to your main email address.
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<a name="FAQ10"></a>
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**(10) What does 'UIDPLUS not supported' mean?**
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The error message *UIDPLUS not supported* means that your email provider does not provide the IMAP [UIDPLUS extension](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4315).
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This IMAP extension is required to implement two way synchronization, which is not an optional feature.
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So, unless your provider can enable this extension, you cannot use FairEmail for this provider.
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<a name="FAQ11"></a>
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~~**(11) Why is STARTTLS for IMAP not supported?**~~
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~~STARTTLS starts with a not encrypted connection and is therefore not secure.~~
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~~All well known IMAP servers support IMAP with a plain SSL connection, so there is no need to support STARTTLS for IMAP.~~
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~~If you encounter an IMAP server that requires STARTTLS, please let me know.~~
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~~For more background information, please see [this article](https://www.eff.org/nl/deeplinks/2018/06/announcing-starttls-everywhere-securing-hop-hop-email-delivery).~~
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~~tl;dr; "*Additionally, even if you configure STARTTLS perfectly and use a valid certificate, there’s still no guarantee your communication will be encrypted.*"~~
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<a name="FAQ12"></a>
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**(12) How does encryption/decryption work?**
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First of all you need to install and configure [OpenKeychain](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.sufficientlysecure.keychain/).
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To encrypt a message before sending, just select the menu *Encrypt*. Similarly, to decrypt a received message, just select the menu *Decrypt*.
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Encryption is [Autocrypt](https://autocrypt.org/) compatible. For security reasons received messages are not decrypted automatically.
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Encryption/decryption is a pro feature.
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<a name="FAQ13"></a>
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**(13) How does search on server work?**
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You can start searching for messages on sender, recipient, subject or message text by using the magnify glass in the action bar of a folder (not in the unified inbox because it could be a collection of folders).
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First local messages will be searched and after that the server will execute the search.
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Searching local messages is case insensitive and on partial text.
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The message text of local messages will not be searched if the message text was not downloaded yet.
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Searching by the server might be case sensitive or case insensitive and might be on partial text or whole words, depending on the provider.
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Searching messages is a pro feature.
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<a name="FAQ14"></a>
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**(14) How can I setup Outlook with 2FA?**
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To use Outlook with two factor authentication enabled, you need to create an app password.
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See [here](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12409/microsoft-account-app-passwords-two-step-verification) for the details.
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<a name="FAQ15"></a>
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**(15) Why does the message text keep loading?**
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The message header and message body are fetched separately from the server.
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The message text of larger messages is not being pre-fetched on metered connections and need to be fetched on opening the message.
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The message text will keep loading if there is no connection to the account, see also the next question.
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In the advanced settings you can set the maximum size for automatically downloading of messages on metered connections.
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<a name="FAQ16"></a>
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**(16) Why are messages not being synchronized?**
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Possible causes of messages not being synchronized (sent or received) are:
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* The account or folder(s) are not set to synchronize
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* The number of days to synchronize is set to low
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* There is no usable internet connection
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* The email server is temporarily not available
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* Android stopped the synchronization service
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So, check your account and folder settings and check if the accounts/folders are connected (see the legend menu for the meaning of the icons).
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On some devices, where there are lots of applications competing for memory, Android may stop the synchronization service as a last resort.
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Some Android versions,
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in particular of Huawei (see [here](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/07/04/push-notifications-not-coming-through-to-your-huawei-phone-heres-how-to-fix-it/) for a fix)
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or Xiaomi (see [here](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/11/17/how-to-fix-push-notifications-on-xiaomis-miui-8-for-real/) for a fix)
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stop apps and services too aggressively.
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<a name="FAQ17"></a>
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**(17) Why does manual synchronize not work?**
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If the *Synchronize now* menu is dimmed, there is no connection to the account.
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See the previous question for more information.
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<a name="FAQ18"></a>
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**(18) Why is the message preview not always shown?**
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The preview of the message text cannot be shown if the message body has not been downloaded yet.
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See also [this FAQ](#user-content-FAQ15).
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<a name="FAQ19"></a>
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**(19) Why are the pro features so expensive?**
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The right question is "*why are there so many taxes and fees?*":
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* VAT: 25% (depending on your country)
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* Google fee: 30%
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* Income tax: 50%
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So, what is left for the developer is just a fraction of what you pay.
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Note that only some convenience and advanced features need to be purchased, which means that FairEmail is basically free to use.
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Also note that most free apps will appear not to be sustainable in the end, whereas FairEmail is properly maintained and supported,
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and that free apps may have a catch, like sending privacy sensitive information to the internet.
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<a name="FAQ20"></a>
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**(20) Can I get a refund?**
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If a purchased pro feature doesn't work as intended
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and this isn't caused by a problem in the free features
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and I cannot fix the problem in a timely manner, you can get a refund.
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In all other cases there is no refund possible.
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In no circumstances there is a refund possible for any problem related to the free features,
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since there wasn't paid anything for them and because they can be evaluated without any limitation.
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I take my responsibility as seller to deliver what has been promised
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and I expect that you take responsibility for informing yourself of what you are buying.
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<a name="FAQ21"></a>
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**(21) How do I enable the notification light?**
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Before Android 8 Oreo: there is an advanced option in the setup for this.
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Android 8 Oreo and later: see [here](https://developer.android.com/training/notify-user/channels) about how to configure notification channels.
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<a name="FAQ22"></a>
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**(22) Why do I get 'Couldn't connect to host' ?**
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The message *Couldn't connect to host ...* means that FairEmail was not able to connect to the email server.
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Possible causes are:
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* A firewall is blocking connections to the server
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* The email server is refusing to accept the connection
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* The host name or port number is invalid
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* The are problems with the internet connection
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If you are using a VPN, the VPN provider might block the connection because it is too aggressively trying to prevent spam.
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<a name="FAQ23"></a>
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**(23) Why do I get 'Too many simultaneous connections' ?**
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The message *Too many simultaneous connections* is sent by the email server when there are too many connections to the same email account at the same time.
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Possible causes are:
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* There are multiple email clients connected to the same account
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* The same email client is connected multiple times to the same account
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* The previous connection was terminated abruptly for example by losing internet connectivity
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<a name="FAQ24"></a>
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**(24) What is browse messages on the server?**
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Browse messages on the server will fetch messages from the email server in real time
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when you reach the end of the list of synchronized messages, even when the folder is set to not synchronize.
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You can disable this feature under *Setup* > *Advanced options* > *Browse messages on the server*.
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<a name="FAQ25"></a>
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**(25) Why can't I select/open/save an image, attachment or a file?**
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If a menu item to select/open/save a file is disabled (dimmed),
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the [storage access framework](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider),
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a standard Android component, is probably not present,
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for example because your custom ROM does not include it or because it was removed.
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FairEmail does not request storage permissions, so this framework is required to select files and folders.
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No app, except maybe file managers, targeting Android 4.4 KitKat or later should ask for storage permissions because it would allow access to *all* files.
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<a name="FAQ26"></a>
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**(26) Can I help to translate FairEmail in my own language?**
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Yes, you can translate the texts of FairEmail in your own language [here](https://crowdin.com/project/open-source-email).
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Registration is free.
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<a name="FAQ27"></a>
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**(27) Why are images shown without tapping 'Show images' ?**
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There are two types of images:
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* Images embedded into a message
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* Images stored on a remote server
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Embedded images, also visible as an attachment, are always shown, but images stored on a remote server need to be downloaded by tapping *Show images*.
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Note that downloading images from a remote server can be used to record you did see a message, which you likely don't want if the message is spam or malicious.
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<br>
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If you have another question, want to request a feature or report a bug, you can use [this forum](https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/source-email-t3824168).
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Registration is free.
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