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duplicate folders that show nothing after importing profiles to a new Thunderbird

  • 26 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by sguo

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I followed all steps to copy Thunderbird profiles successfully to a new Thunderbird downloaded on a new computer. All email accounts, old settings, and folders (very large, 16.9g) are all in the left pane after I launched the new Thunderbird.

However, many folders in Chinese characters are duplicate, and do not show anything inside the folders. I have transferred the profiles to a new computer many times in the past 10 years, and I have been always successful without any problem using the same method to transfer from one computer Thunderbird to a new computer Thunderbird. But, this is the first time I encounter this problem - duplicate folders than contain nothing inside. I first downloaded the latest version of Thunderbird (68.10). It happened. Then, I thought I should try an older version (60), which is my old computer using Thunderbird 6.0. But it has the same duplicate folders that contains nothing or do not show up anything inside.

I searched in the support articles and discussions on Thunderbird. I tried to delete all MSF files in the folders, which took a long time to do, and restarted the Thunderbird. But, it still does not work. I tried to delete the duplicate folders, in many ways, but it did not allow me to delete. When I click on any folder in Chinese characters, it just has no response, blank in the folders, and it shows no files previously saved. But, if I click on the folders in English, they are working, and all messages saved show up.

I need all those folders which I saved for over 20 years on my teaching and research position. I have been perplexed and frustrated as I have tried to remove and reinstall Thunderbird and transfer data over 10 times in the past few days, spent days by days on this task without finding a solution. I think the only way now is to find an expert who knows the Thunderbird well to help me. I am even willing and happy to pay the service and work provided by any Thunderbird expert, so I can resolve the problem to get these folders work. All folders and sub-folders inside contain a lot of messages.

The strange thing that has puzzled me is that all folders and sub-folders in English work fine, and has messages, but those folders and sub-folders in Chinese language are all duplicate and contain no message inside. Please see the pictures attached for your reference. Can anyone kindly help me? Please do email me and alert me when someone would kindly offer help, and email me: sguo@sfsu.edu Thanks very much!

I followed all steps to copy Thunderbird profiles successfully to a new Thunderbird downloaded on a new computer. All email accounts, old settings, and folders (very large, 16.9g) are all in the left pane after I launched the new Thunderbird. However, many folders in Chinese characters are duplicate, and do not show anything inside the folders. I have transferred the profiles to a new computer many times in the past 10 years, and I have been always successful without any problem using the same method to transfer from one computer Thunderbird to a new computer Thunderbird. But, this is the first time I encounter this problem - duplicate folders than contain nothing inside. I first downloaded the latest version of Thunderbird (68.10). It happened. Then, I thought I should try an older version (60), which is my old computer using Thunderbird 6.0. But it has the same duplicate folders that contains nothing or do not show up anything inside. I searched in the support articles and discussions on Thunderbird. I tried to delete all MSF files in the folders, which took a long time to do, and restarted the Thunderbird. But, it still does not work. I tried to delete the duplicate folders, in many ways, but it did not allow me to delete. When I click on any folder in Chinese characters, it just has no response, blank in the folders, and it shows no files previously saved. But, if I click on the folders in English, they are working, and all messages saved show up. I need all those folders which I saved for over 20 years on my teaching and research position. I have been perplexed and frustrated as I have tried to remove and reinstall Thunderbird and transfer data over 10 times in the past few days, spent days by days on this task without finding a solution. I think the only way now is to find an expert who knows the Thunderbird well to help me. I am even willing and happy to pay the service and work provided by any Thunderbird expert, so I can resolve the problem to get these folders work. All folders and sub-folders inside contain a lot of messages. The strange thing that has puzzled me is that all folders and sub-folders in English work fine, and has messages, but those folders and sub-folders in Chinese language are all duplicate and contain no message inside. Please see the pictures attached for your reference. Can anyone kindly help me? Please do email me and alert me when someone would kindly offer help, and email me: sguo@sfsu.edu Thanks very much!
Attached screenshots

All Replies (6)

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Okay, I have moved all files of Mail into Local Folders/Mail. See the picture. However, it's still blank on the left pane. Any further suggestion?

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I am going to delete all TB profiles, and uninstall the TB. I will reinstall TB, and copy the Thunderbird profiles into the new TB. See what will happen. But, I have repeated this over 10 times. Sigh...

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I have now reinstalled the TB, delete the files in the XXX default, and copy the actual files from the old profile (xxx default). Now the duplicate folders are gone!

However, the folder in Chinese characters still show empty. I then went to Options/Display/Formatting/Fonts & Colors, Advanced... Text Encoding, and choose the language Simplified Chinese. Close and restart the Thunderbird. Then, the TB is updating to a latest version 68.10, and the magic is happening!!! Those folders in Chinese is now becoming duplicates again!!! Can you believe this? This means that the old version won't have duplicates, and the newest version create duplicate folders that also contain no files.

Do you have any further ideas and possible solutions? Thanks very much for your patience and help!

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Can you look at the picture? It shows the email account has duplicates after the TB system is updated. How to remove those duplicates?

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I don't know exactly how to remove the duplicates, but it looks like you're using Unified View. Set View/Folders to All and maybe the structure will be clearer.

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I changed "Unified" to "All" in View, but it does not work, and duplicate folders remain. Any further thoughts? Thanks!

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