General Questions

What is Zimbra Desktop?

Zimbra Desktop is a free and open source email client application that gives you online and offline access to all your email accounts in one place. It's cross-platform, available on Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS and Linux. Zimbra Desktop works with many types of email systems to synchronize email, contacts and calendar data between user's mailboxes in the cloud and local data stored on your computer disk. While synchronization requires network connectivity, Zimbra Desktop can be used offline when the user's computer is not connected to the network.

Is Zimbra Desktop really free?

Yes. Zimbra Desktop is open source and free. We make both the software code and the application itself available to anyone at no charge.

See here for license information.

Does Zimbra Desktop contain any spyware?

Absolutely not. In fact 100% of the Zimbra Desktop code is open source so everything the software does is open to the public.

What types of accounts are supported by Zimbra Desktop?

Zimbra Desktop supports the following account types:

• Zimbra (for use with Zimbra Collaboration Server or Zimbra Collaboration Appliance)
• Gmail
• Yahoo! Mail
• Microsoft Exchange (via IMAP)
• Other email services using POP3 or IMAP4 access

What is a Zimbra account?

A Zimbra account is hosted by a server running the Zimbra Collaboration Server software. In order to use Zimbra Desktop with your Zimbra account, your service provider or your email administrator must be running ZCS 7.0 or later. Contact your administrator for the email account settings.

Do I need a Zimbra account in order to use Zimbra Desktop?

Not at all. You can use Zimbra Desktop with any types of accounts we support.

Can I setup multiple accounts of the same or different types in one installation?

Yes. You can setup as many or as few accounts as you need. For example, you can setup two Gmail accounts of different usernames or domains, one Yahoo! Mail account, and one IMAP account for your company's IMAP server.

Is Zimbra Desktop available in my language?

Currently Zimbra Desktop does not offer a localized installer and account setup. However, after installation and configuration the application supports 20+ languages. You can set your languages from you Zimbra Desktop Preferences.

How do I get help with using the software?

First, we recommend that you read this FAQ. Secondly, the Zimbra Desktop Release Notes have a lot of information about the latest release. Finally, you can get help on the Zimbra Desktop forum. When posting to the forum, always include:

• the version number and build number. (Find this in the envelope icon, About Zimbra Desktop section. The icon displays in the Microsoft Windows Tray or in the Apple Mac Dock row)
• what platform (Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Linux)
• what mail service (Zimbra Collaboration Server, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc)

I found a bug. How do I report it?

Go to Zimbra Bugzilla to file a bug. It will help Zimbra engineers to investigate your issue if you include as much information as possible, including how to reproduce what you see. Sometimes screenshots can help. Always be sure to tell us:

• the version number and build number
• what platform
• what mail service (Zimbra Collaboration Server, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc)

If this is your first time logging a bug, you will need to register an account. By doing this you will be notified on every update to the bug you file.

I have this brilliant idea to make Zimbra Desktop significantly better. How do I get it into the product?

Go to Zimbra Bugzilla to file a Request For Feature (RFE). Select "enhancement" as Severity. We always love to hear cool ideas.

Download and Install

What are the prerequisites of installing and running Zimbra Desktop?

Before you start, you should check out the Zimbra Desktop Release Notes where you can read about the latest release and known issues.

Where do I download the installer?

Go Zimbra Desktop Downloads to download the installer for your platform.

What platforms do Zimbra Desktop support?

Zimbra Desktop can run on Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and a variety of Linux (i686) flavors including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, SUSE, etc.

Can I use Zimbra Desktop on a shared computer?

Yes. Zimbra Desktop supports multi-user systems and "quick user switch". Each user's data are completely isolated from one another.

Where is the install location?

While you can choose to install to any folder on your computer, the default install paths on the respective platforms are as follows:

• Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and 7 (32bit) - C:\Program Files\Zimbra\Zimbra Desktop
• Microsoft Windows Vista and 7 (64bit) - C:\Program Files (x86)\Zimbra\Zimbra Desktop
• Mac OS Snow Leopard - /Applications/Zimbra Desktop
• Linux - /opt/zimbra/zdesktop

In the rest of this FAQ we will refer to the install location as <install>.

On Linux, the default install location /opt/zimbra/zdesktop often requires root permission. If that is the case, run the Linux installer as root. Answer "No" when asked to "continue to install data files for user: root". Login as regular user to complete the second part of the installation.

Where is the user data location?

Each user's data is under their standard data location on the respective platforms as follows:

• Microsoft Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Zimbra\Zimbra Desktop
• Microsoft Windows Vista and 7 - C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Zimbra\Zimbra Desktop
• Mac OS X Snow Leopard - /Users/<username>/Library/Zimbra Desktop
• Linux - <home>/zdesktop

where <username> is the username of the user and <home> is the home directory of the user. In the rest of this FAQ will refer to the user data location as <data>.

I have older versions of Zimbra Desktop installed. Can I upgrade to the latest version of Zimbra Desktop?

Current installations of Zimbra Desktop 2.0.x can be upgraded to 7.1 directly. To upgrade, just simply run the latest installer. All user settings and data are preserved during the upgrade.

Zimbra Desktop 1.0.x can not be upgraded to Zimbra Desktop 7.1. Due to extensive and incompatible changes in the underlying database architecture of 7.1, auto-migration of 1.0 data to 7.1 is not supported. To migrate "local" data, 1.0 users must first export the local data to files (under Preferences...); then import them back to 7.1 once 7.1 is up-and-running. To migrate "remote" data (data on server), users can setup accounts on 7.1 and sync the data down from the remote server.

After installing the latest Zimbra Desktop version, can I downgrade versions?

Downgrading is not officially supported and it may lead to data corruption.

How do I know which version/build I'm running?

Run Zimbra Desktop.

• Windows: Zimbra Desktop has a tray icon in the system tray. Right click the tray icon and select "About Zimbra Desktop". The About dialog will show your version and build number. Remember to always include your version and build number when reporting issues.
• Linux: Click on the "Gears" icon in the bottom left of the application window. Select "About Zimbra Desktop".
• Mac OS: Right click Zimbra Desktop's dock icon while it's running. Select "About Zimbra Desktop".

How to install spell checker dictionaries?

Zimbra Desktop includes one default spell checker dictionary of U.S. English (en-US). Follow these steps to install dictionaries in other supported locales.

(1) Download the dictionaries from these links:

   da     Dansk
   de     Deutsch
   en-GB  English(UK)
   es-ES  Español(de España)
   fr     Français
   it     Italiano
   nl     Nederlands
   pl     Polski
   pt-BR  Português(do Brasil)
   ru     Русский
   sv     Svenska

(2) Unzip the dictionary package to the "dictionaries" directory. Depending on which OS you are running, the directory location is:

• Microsoft Windows: <install>\win32\prism\xulrunner\dictionaries
• MacOS: <install>/macos/prism/Prism.app/Contents/Frameworks/XUL.framework/dictionaries
• Linux: <install>/linux/prism/xulrunner/dictionaries

(3) Edit <user data>/profile/user.js file and set correct locale to "spellchecker.dictionary" user preference. For example, if you want to use U.K. English dictionary, you should have this line in your user.js:

user_pref("spellchecker.dictionary", "en-GB");

(4) Restart Zimbra Desktop.

Running Zimbra Desktop

How do I run Zimbra Desktop?

On Microsoft Windows, select the Zimbra Desktop program from Start menu. On Mac the Zimbra Desktop program is under /Applications/Zimbra Desktop. On Linux double click the Zimbra Desktop icon on your Desktop.

How do I shutdown Zimbra Desktop?

On Microsoft Windows clicking the "x" on the upper right corner of the window only minimizes Zimbra Desktop to the system tray. To shutdown Zimbra Desktop, either select "Quit" from the application main window's system menu, or right click on the tray icon and select "Quit". On Mac and Linux, simply closing all the application windows will shutdown Zimbra Desktop.

Can I still receive new mail when Zimbra Desktop is not running?

No. Once the graphic user interface of Zimbra Desktop exits, backend service also stops. But you can hide Zimbra Desktop GUI, which should allow backend service to continue to receive new mail.

I don't use Zimbra Desktop very often and sometimes I want to free up more memory. How do I shutdown the Zimbra Desktop data engine?

• Microsoft Windows: in the tray icon menu select "Shutdown Service"
• Mac: use the Dock icon menu.
• Linux: shutdown Zimbra Desktop using a terminal window by running the following commands (as the user): cd ~/zdesktop/bin ; ./zdesktop stop

How do I start the Zimbra Desktop data engine after I stopped it?

Launching Zimbra Desktop GUI automatically starts the data engine if it's not already running.

Data Synchronization

How much data is stored on a user's computer?

Zimbra Desktop is designed to download all user data in the cloud to store on the user's computer. This approach allows Zimbra Desktop users to access all of their data when offline.

Where are the data stored?

Actual data is stored as files under <data>/store, where each item is a single file. Metadata is stored in a SQLite database under <data>/sqlite. In addition, indexes on data are stored under <data>/index. These three folders contain all user data, and any direct modification to these data will result in corruption and possible data loss.

Can I backup the data in those three user data folders by simply copying them to another location?

While that is possible, it is not recommended. If you choose to do file based backup, you must first quit Zimbra Desktop before running any types of backup.

However we recommend users do backup using the import/export feature instead. You will find this feature under the tab Preferences > Local Folders. Zimbra Desktop users should regularly backup their accounts using the export tool. Regular manual backup is even more important for POP accounts and Local Folders where you only have one copy of the data on local disk (as opposed to "synced accounts" like Zimbra, Yahoo, Gmail or IMAP where you have another copy of everything on back-end server).

Is my data stored on my computer secure?

Currently Zimbra Desktop does not provide application level encryption. It is important that you choose a secure file system and not give others access to your computer.

Are all my data in Zimbra Desktop always in sync with my data in the cloud?

That depends on the type of account, what you choose to synchronize, and how often Zimbra Desktop synchronizes with remote servers. For Zimbra accounts, virtually 100% of data is synchronized with the server, including user preferences. The only data not in sync are changes you made since the last synchronization. For Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Exchange IMAP and other IMAP mailboxes, user preferences are not synchronized with the server. For POP accounts, all data are stored locally only once they are downloaded. In addition, all data that is under Local Folders are stored locally only. Data that only exist locally in Zimbra Desktop is referrred to as local data.

If my hard drive dies and I have no data backup, do I lose all my data?

You will lose all your local data. Data still in your mailboxes in the cloud can be downloaded again once you setup a new Zimbra Desktop install. Therefore, it is important to backup your mailbox data periodically, especially your local data. It is also worth noting that when you choose to delete or reset a mailbox, all data including changes you made since your last sync is deleted from your local computer although data under Local Folders will remain.

How often does Zimbra Desktop synchronize with remote servers?

That depends on the sync schedule you choose for each of your accounts. Zimbra accounts support the option to synchronize whenever your mailbox on the server has any new changes, which is referred to as "push". Zimbra Desktop currently doesn't support "push" for other types of accounts. You can also force an immediate sync of all accounts by clicking the "Send/Receive" button. If there are outgoing messages in your Outbox, sync will run immediately unless your sync schedule is set to "manual". With "manual" setting you must click the "Send/Receive" button to even send outgoing messages.

Can the latest Zimbra Desktop version synchronize with older versions of ZCS servers?

Zimbra Desktop 7.x does not work with ZCS 5.0 or earlier. Zimbra Desktop 7.x is mostly compatible with ZCS 6.x, with the exception of "Documents" (WiKi) app. Documents app is deprecated in Zimbra Desktop 7.0 (and in ZCS 7.0 as well). To access Documents on ZCS 6.x, users have to use the web client.

I read or deleted some messages using a different client. Why are those changes not reflected in Zimbra Desktop?

For any non-Zimbra mailbox, auto sync only downloads new messages. In order to synchronize other changes such as unread flag changes and deletions you have to click the "Send/Receive" button to do a manual synchronization.

Can I install Zimbra Desktop on multiple computers and make them synchronize with the same account?

Absolutely. Just remember for non-Zimbra mailboxes you have to click "Send/Receive" in order to see changes you made from one install in other installs.

How do I uninstall Zimbra Desktop?

On Microsoft Windows you can also use "Add or Remove Programs" to uninstall. On Mac and Linux, shutdown the data engine and then remove everything under <install>. You can optionally also delete everything under <data> if you no longer need the user data.

Multi-account Goodies

What is the "All Mailboxes" section?

It's a virtual mailbox that shows an integrated view of all your physical mailboxes. The virtual Inbox under "All Mailboxes" shows messages from Inboxes in all of your physical mailboxes. Other virtual folders under "All Mailboxes" work the same way.

How do I tell to which mailbox a message belongs?

Each message has an account indicator, an icon that shows the type of account.

Can I use "All Mailboxes" the same way as I do a regular mailbox?

Yes, you can read, flag, move and delete messages in virtual folders just as you do to those in physical folders.

If I delete a message from a virtual folder, where does it go?

It's moved into the Trash folder of the same mailbox where the message is.

What account identity will it use when I reply or forward a message in a virtual folder?

By default it will use the identity to which the original message was sent. However you can always switch to a different identity in the composer. In fact you can even switch to an identity that belongs to a different physical mailbox.

I don't like seeing messages from different mailboxes together. Can I turn off "All Mailboxes"?

Yes. Go to Preferences and uncheck the option to "show the 'All Mailboxes' section with my other accounts".

Can I move or copy messages from one account to another?

Yes.

What is the "Local Folders" section?

That's a separate mailbox that doesn't sync with any server account. A folder under "Local Folders" is a local folder. All items in a local folder exist on your computer only. You can move or copy items from any account to a local folder so that those items are saved on your computer.

I can see all my accounts in Mail application, but why don't I see some of them in Address Book or Calendar applications?

An account is present in an application only if that account supports the data type. All accounts support mail data, and that's why you'll always see all accounts under Mail. However some accounts, like generic POP or IMAP, don't support address book and calendar data, and therefore they are not included in those applications.

Can I move a meeting from one account to another?

Yes. For example, if you have one Zimbra account and one Gmail account with calendar sync enabled, you can move a meeting in Google account to your Zimbra account. However by doing so you are deleting the meeting from your Google calendar and adding it to your Zimbra server mailbox.

When Things Go Wrong

My emails stopped coming in. What's wrong?

It could be that synchronization with remote server encountered an error. Some errors are recoverable, like when the remote server is temporarily unavailable or your network connectivity is down. First look at the sync status indicator next to the account name in the folder tree. If you see a red square, you are having connectivity issue with the server which is typically temporary. When the indicator is a red circle with an exclamation point, an error has been encountered during sync. Click on the error indicator for more information.