Products · Product
ProtonMail
Raised as a usability problem by 148 people on Hacker News over 11 years (2016–2026), in 90 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Deleting emails is very slow in both the app and web clientUnreviewed
20162026- Bulk deleting imported emails is nearly impossible; deletes via Thunderbird don't free space and web interface is slow2026-08-18
- Deleting emails is very slow in both the app and web client2025-01-09
- IOS app couldn't delete more than 10 emails at a time2024-04-22
Message content can't be searched, so messages must be organized manuallyUnreviewed
20162026- Search can't see message contents until a hidden local indexing option is turned on2026-01-23
- Search silently excludes emails outside the free tier window, so messages seem nonexistent2023-09-21
- Can't search message content, so the user must organize messages manually to find them2020-11-02
Accessing email requires a bridge, which is annoyingUnreviewed
20162026- Using the bridge and iPhone app is a hassle; getting email back out is hard2024-04-22
- Having to use a bridge at all to access email is annoying2022-11-02
- Hard to use other email clients because it requires a bridge and complicated proxy setups2022-11-02
Mobile app doesn't group email chains into threads, hard to follow conversationsUnreviewed
20162026- Mobile app doesn't group email chains into threads, making conversations hard to follow2021-07-18
- Inbox shows multiple emails per conversation instead of one entry per thread, making it hard to use2019-04-25
- Mobile app lacks threaded conversations and newer features; can't use third-party mail apps2018-09-17
IMAP integration basically does not workUnreviewed
20162026- Must use Proton's client, web UI, or a bridge to access standard IMAP2025-07-11
- IMAP is unusable in the user's email client due to missing protocol support2024-04-11
- IMAP integration basically does not work for the user2019-03-12
Emails can't be exported easily; each must be saved individually to leaveUnreviewed
20162026- Exporting email history is so difficult it requires an engineer2023-07-08
- Free users must export emails one by one, which is impractical at scale2020-07-28
- Can't easily export emails; must save each one individually to leave2017-08-17
Thunderbird won't connect if launched before Bridge finishes startingUnreviewed
20162026- Could not get Proton Bridge working with Thunderbird at all2024-04-22
- Thunderbird won't connect if launched before Bridge finishes starting2023-12-14
- Bridge fails to auto-start, forcing manual launch and clearing Thunderbird errors2021-05-20
Outdated saved draft gets sent, so only half the message goes outUnreviewed
20162026- Email sent an outdated saved draft, so only half the message went out2026-07-10
- Replies sent from the iPhone app show up incomplete, with an older auto-saved draft2024-07-03
- Drafts close mid-reply and emails often fail to send, sitting in drafts2023-07-08
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Logout asks confusing dialog about identifiers, requiring reading a wall of text2026-11-01
- Onboarding uses dark patterns that push users into choices they did not pick2026-09-04
- Search fails to find words that appear in the email title2026-08-21
- Bulk deleting imported emails is nearly impossible; deletes via Thunderbird don't free space and web interface is slow2026-08-18
- Android app often fails to send mail, making it unusable2026-08-18
- Email sent an outdated saved draft, so only half the message went out2026-07-10
- Search barely works on mobile and webapp, so email can't be reliably found2026-06-12
- Calendar app is slow and laggy to interact with2026-06-03
- J/K navigation does nothing unless an email is already selected2026-06-03
- Keyboard shortcuts seem to never work correctly2026-06-03
- Can't find the option to index all emails for search in the iOS app2026-06-03
- Snoozing only works when conversation view is enabled, which groups emails too aggressively2026-06-02
- Long email chains are painful to read compared with Gmail2026-05-13
- Search is so bad the user forwards email to Gmail to search2026-02-27
- Searching email content is limited, so the user gives up convenience and must search only metadata on mobile2026-01-24
- Upgrade pop-up reappears on every refresh despite choosing 'don't show again'2026-01-24
- Stays logged in on headless servers only with constant keyring failures and repeated re-login2026-01-24
- Search is unusable for the commenter2026-01-24
- Search can't see message contents until a hidden local indexing option is turned on2026-01-23
- Pins a CPU core, drains battery, and is slow to sync new email2026-01-23
- People click the AI consent button without reading, then can't find how to turn it off2026-01-23
- Search is so poor the commenter calls it unusable2026-01-23
- Search is the worst experience the commenter has had from any mail product2026-01-23
- Can't search email bodies or file contents, only headers work2025-12-30
- Email search is so bad it can't find what the user needs2025-12-30
- Searching emails is slow and mediocre, especially with large mailboxes2025-12-30
- Search too poor to find simple things like airline tickets in email2025-12-30
- Android app became unusable for the user a couple of years ago2025-12-30
- Body search requires slow client-side indexing, taking minutes on a fresh session2025-12-30
- Support search has obvious UX and performance problems2025-11-28
- Deleted messages stay in folder and spam count doesn't update2025-09-03
- Must use Proton's client, web UI, or a bridge to access standard IMAP2025-07-11
- Setting moved to a different section, so instructions to find it are outdated2025-06-28
- It is very hard to connect to it2025-03-18
- Search is poor and no automatic filtering makes inbox noisy2025-03-18
- Email text renders like an image, forcing pinch-zoom; attachments need open/close for each image2025-03-18
- Android app described as terrible, with no specifics given2025-03-14
- Clunky and extremely slow interface; local mail client needs a sidecar app2025-01-09
- Deleting emails is very slow in both the app and web client2025-01-09
- Getting to settings is annoying for the user2025-01-09
- After marking conversations read, they stay selected, so it's unclear what state things are in2024-11-17
- Login alert can't be disabled without turning off all notifications2024-07-03
- Can't see mail headers of a message in the mobile app2024-07-03
- IPhone app is unreliable, so user avoids signing up again2024-07-03
- Replies sent from the iPhone app show up incomplete, with an older auto-saved draft2024-07-03
- Website and mobile app are sluggish, with 5-10 second loading screens for email2024-07-03
- Sending an email typed quickly truncates it, forcing a 30-second wait before sending2024-07-03
- Apps are sluggish, and the Android app fails to load email contents2024-07-03
- Android app is unusable; cannot unmark an email as spam2024-07-03
- Can't search email contents, enlarge font, or see which folder an email is in2024-06-25