https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/maildir-thunderbird

Sfhowes,

That's the path I am following as advised on the link. But the option is greyed out. That's my problem.

Regards,

Lakhvinder Singh

Sorry, I misread the content of the cited page. Maildir has been removed from the Options menu of TB 38 because of unresolved issues:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1193958

but you can enable it for new accounts by following these instructions:

https://jaisejames.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/to-activate-maildir-in-thunderbird/

After making the change, your options in 38.3 should look like the attached picture.

Hi,

Is it possible to add a Maildir folder in Local Folders? I want to use maildir in local folders because of the 9GB data of emails I have of a particular account. I want to archive all emails in the local folder in a maildir format. Please advise.

Regards,

LS

I don't know for sure, but if the messages you store in Local Folders come from an account that is set up in maildir format, then I would assume they remain in that format when they are copied or moved to Local Folders.

But if you just want to archive messages in single-file format, select them and then Ctrl-S to save them as individual eml files, or use ImportExportTools for more options.

But I do not want to select and Ctrl-S messages everytime I want to Archive a message. I want to just click on the Archive tab or A key to archive messages in the Local Folders in maildir/eml format. Any advice on this please? Thanks in advance.

Best advice is to set up a new account in maildir format and perform an archiving test to see if it works to your satisfaction.

No it does not work.

See the discussion from comment 172 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=58308#c172

Matt,

There is no clear answer on how to set up Local Folders to a maildir format. Any advice please?

Regards,

LS

I think the "gotcha" here is the new account stipulation. Since Local Folders is a built-in account and cannot be deleted and set up as new, you can never get to the position needed to start using maildir on it. And there is no mechanism on offer to convert an existing account's storage mode.

Ok. Well that is dissapointing. I wanted to use the Local Folder also as a maildir folder, so that I can archive all my messages (around 9 GB) locally on my laptop, to use them offline. This way I can keep my gmail inbox small with only few emails (probably only 6 months email in the gmail inbox).

Reading about to see how others have approached this, one idea that pops out is this:

BEWARE! I have NOT tried this.

Close Thunderbird. Back up your profile, just in case. Open Thunderbird. Set your default to maildir message storage. Close Thunderbird. In your file manager, move all the Local Folders to another, ideally non-IMAP account, so their contents remain accessible. Re-start Thunderbird.

On detecting the absence of the Local Folders, Thunderbird will re-create them, and hopefully in maildir format.

Now you can transfer (in Thunderbird) all the stuff back to the new Local Folders from the account/folder where you parked them.

Any filters that point at Local Folders may need remedial attention.

I did as advised, and the Local Folders were created, but the same mbox format. No luck!

create a non working POP account, manually edit the settings in the config editor as suggested in the Bugzilla post and then drag mails from local folders to the non working pop account. On arrival in the new account with the new contract maildir files should be created.

Ii have such a non working pop account I crated to use for archives

Matt,

Thanks. I created a non working POP account and gave a fake server address. Please see attached screenshot. I named the non working POP account as Archives. 1. Is there any way I can remove the Inbox and Trash folders (under the account Archive)? 2. Also, the Archive (EP) and Archive (Live) are linked to two IMAP accounts above, so their icon has changed to a Archive icon. The third folder Archive (DSI) is not linked to any account, so it shows a "folder" icon. Is there any way I can show the folder icon similar to other folders, without linking it to any account?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

LS

Ok, one thing at a time.

This add-on allows you to change flags on folders, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/thunderbird/addon/folderflags/ I really have no idea how you will go, but I have a feeling inbox will just be recreated after you make it a normal folder and delete it. The recreate will be on restart, if it occurs.

As for the archive icon, you can probably fiddle that with the add-on as well. Again it is caveat emptor.