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Thunderbird "reset" itself and now email folders missing.

  • 3 replies
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  • 19 views
  • Last reply by david

mcisar
mcisar
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Am trying to resolve an issue for a client. They are a longtime Thunderbird user and several days ago when they opened the program it seemed to have forgotten who they were. Unsure whether that's because of a Thunderbird update or just something randomly corrupted.

In any case they tried to re-enter their account information (POP3 by the way) but had some issues getting the settings right. I got them straightened around with the proper ports and settings this morning so they are able to send and receive email however all of the folders which she previously had in her inbox are no longer there. I did check the server for folders just on the off chance that they had been using IMAP and not POP3, but none were found.

In checking their Thunderbird profile folder (there is only the one) by timestamps it was created many years back but by current date stamps on the Inbox files it is where the current new mail is being downloaded to.

Their folder list within Thunderbird itself is pretty barren... Inbox, Sent and Trash

If I look in the profile folder on the other hand I do see an "inbox.sbd" (dated about a week ago) and it does appear to contain all of the files and sub-folders related to the missing folders so the data is obviously there in some form. How do I get it "re-linked" into Thunderbird so the user can access it?

Thanks Mike

Am trying to resolve an issue for a client. They are a longtime Thunderbird user and several days ago when they opened the program it seemed to have forgotten who they were. Unsure whether that's because of a Thunderbird update or just something randomly corrupted. In any case they tried to re-enter their account information (POP3 by the way) but had some issues getting the settings right. I got them straightened around with the proper ports and settings this morning so they are able to send and receive email however all of the folders which she previously had in her inbox are no longer there. I did check the server for folders just on the off chance that they had been using IMAP and not POP3, but none were found. In checking their Thunderbird profile folder (there is only the one) by timestamps it was created many years back but by current date stamps on the Inbox files it is where the current new mail is being downloaded to. Their folder list within Thunderbird itself is pretty barren... Inbox, Sent and Trash If I look in the profile folder on the other hand I do see an "inbox.sbd" (dated about a week ago) and it does appear to contain all of the files and sub-folders related to the missing folders so the data is obviously there in some form. How do I get it "re-linked" into Thunderbird so the user can access it? Thanks Mike

All Replies (3)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
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They are each mbox files, so the import-export addon should be able to readily import them back in.

mcisar
mcisar Question owner
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I'll give that a try David. Would I be wise to make a copy of those folders (or the profile folder as a whole) before I try to import? I can't imagine it would be wise to try and import from the same place as it's going to want to put the folders it's importing.

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
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I concur. Anytime I do a task that might delete data, I do backup first. Another option is, with Thunderbird not runnng, to use windows file explorer and copy each mbox (without the accompanying .msf index) to local folders and restart. Generally, thunderbird will recognize and reindex the folders.