Pop or IMAP mail account ?

re: All emails in my inbox before 5/22/19 are blank How many emails are you talking about?

Log on to webmail account using a browser. Do you see emails in the Inbox or not?

Maybe the index is out of sync:

• Right click on Inbox folder and select 'Properties'
• click on 'Repair Folder' button
• click on 'OK'

This will repair the index so it display what is in the Inbox mbox file.

Do you use any Anti-Virus product? If yes, what do you use?

Thanks for replying!!

It's a POP account.

I have Norton Internet Security (although strangely, it's icon on the desktop appears to be missing).

I can see the old emails on my webmail account via a browser.

I tried to click the "Repair Folder" button, and, unfortunately, all the emails in my Inbox precious to 5/22/19 have disappeared.

Is there a way to get those emails back and functioning again?

Thanks! Richard

re :I tried to click the "Repair Folder" button, and, unfortunately, all the emails in my Inbox precious to 5/22/19 have disappeared.

The 'Repair' of index file did not cause the emails to be deleted. They were already gone.

re :I have Norton Internet Security As only the mbox file was effected, it is highly likely that Norton found something it did not like and either quarantined the file or 'fixed' the file and in doing so deleted it. AV products have no understanding that one mbox file can contain more than one email, so the whole lot gets nuked. A new Inbox was created so it showed all the new emails ok. However, Norton had no knowledge of the index file and left it alone, hence why it still had all the headers. Suggest, you either do not allow Norton access to scanning Thunderbird folders OR you allow to scan but do not allow it to auto fix - Norton must ask you first. Then if any Thunderbird gets flagged up again to can stop the auto fix.

re :It's a POP account......I can see the old emails on my webmail account via a browser.

That's good. It means you must have selected the option to keep messages on server.

re: Is there a way to get those emails back and functioning again? Yes. As you have them on server, you could download them again.

Do the following: In Thunderbird

• Help > Troubleshooting Information
• click on 'Open Folder' button

A new window opens showing the contents of your 'profile name' folder.

• Exit Thunderbird now - this is important.

• click on 'Mail' folder.
• click on the pop mail account name folder
• Locate and delete this file: popstate.dat

the 'popstate.dat' file keeps a record of what has been downloaded, so it does not download it again. If you delete it then a new empty one will be created when you start thunderbird.

Start Thunderbird. As Thunderbird now thinks nothing has been downloaded, it will look to see what is in the server Inbox and start downloading everything.

Once everything has been downloaded, I suggest you create some folders and use them to organise and sort emails, so you do not have everything in the Inbox.

If you delete a load of emails, then remember to compact the Inbox to clean it up and gain space.

Finally, this may a good time to create a backup.

Exit Thunderbird Access: ~/Library/Thunderbird/ Copy the 'Thunderbird' folder to an external hardrive or usb of suitable size. This folder will backup 'profiles.ini' file, all emails, mail accounts, address books, preferences etc.

Sorry, needed to update info as I just realised you are using a MAC

Hi Toad-Hall, Thanks SO much for the very quick and highly detailed answer. It was a lot of work on your part and I really appreciate it!! I started working on this on Friday, but ran into some issues with Norton Internet Security, then I had to leave for the weekend. I'll be getting back on this tomorrow and will let you know the results of my struggles. :)

Cheers, Richard

Hi, I've followed the instructions: I told Norton not to scan my Thunderbird files, I've made a backup and I tried deleting popstate.dat, then restarting Thunderbird. Unfortunately, the missing emails didn't repopulate.

(One difference is that when I started work this morning, the email titles for all emails before 5/22/19 were missing, not just the email content).

Would it be possible to recover the missing emails using a copy of my profiles from Time Machine?

Thanks. Richard

re:It's a POP account......I can see the old emails on my webmail account via a browser.

If all of those emails are in the server 'Inbox' - they must be in the Inbox. It should have downloaded everything from server Inbox. What is the server ? Is it gmail?

I seemed to have fixed the issue. I don't know if this was the best way to do it, or if the problem will reoccur, but for the time being, I seem to have a fully restored Inbox. Thanks to Toad-Hall for sending me in the right direction.

The key was to find a copy of the old, missing Inbox files on Time Machine, then restore that to Thunderbird to repopulate the missing emails. Here’s how (forgive the use of "I" - I'm saving this for myself in case I need to use the procedure in the future:

1. First, I made a new mailbox and dragged all the current Inbox emails to it (I called it Inbox 5/22/19-5/28/19 2. That allowed me to restore the old/saved emails to the Inbox without overwriting the most recent emails. It left me with a blank InBox 3. Then, I found the stored emails on Time Machine: 4. Click Time Machine. 5. Find and open the Files from 5/22/19 6. Then, click on my name on Left Navigation Bar. 7. Show the Library (usually hidden) by Shift-Command-Period 8. Then find the saved Inbox files: > Library>Thunderbird>Profiles>q4n7yix.default (this might be labelled differently for you) > Mail > pop3.*** > Inbox 9. Click Restore on Time Machine 10. Once the files have been restored to Thunderbird, close then reopen Thunderbird 11. If upon opening, it asks if I want to compact folders, I agree. 12. The old emails should back in place. 13. I then select and manually drag the new emails from the new folder I created for them ( Inbox 5/22/19-5/28/19). 14. That leaves me with a fully restored Inbox. 15. I make sure that Norton no longer either scans Thunderbird, or asks me if I want to do anything with them if it finds an issue. (I did the latter). It doesn’t consider individual files, it simply deletes the entire Inbox. Richard

Toad-Hall, to answer your question - I'm not sure why the old emails didn't download. I didn't have an "Open Folder" button under "Troubleshooting" though. I had to find "popstate.dat using a search. Maybe that was the problem?

Also, I don't use Gmail. My server is with my cable company (Eastlink, here in Ontario).

Again, I really appreciate your help. The information you gave me helped me understand Thunderbird better.

Cheers, Richard

Hi, I'm having a lot of issues with previewing the messages. Clicking any message over half an hour old, nothing will show in the preview pan. I tried the suggestion to "repair" the folder and now I lost ALL MY MAILS!!! They even disappeared from my server although I checked the "never delete messages from server" option.

So now it's a big mess.

I use a pop. account, let me know if you need anything else

info346 This question relates to a MAC OS and has already been resolved for the original postee. If you are using a MAC OS and find the solution mentioned does not work for you, then it is better to ask your own question. When you post into someone else's question, you are sending an email to the original postee, who may or may not be able to assist. By chance, I received an email because I had forgotten to stop following the question. Creating your own question stands a chance of being seen by a larger group of people who may be able to help.

ok sorry! It relates to pc desktop so i'll ask there.

info346 said

ok sorry! It relates to pc desktop so i'll ask there.

Moo

Barbara Perry said

info346 said

ok sorry! It relates to pc desktop so i'll ask there.

Moo

Barbara Perry This is not a chat forum for unhelpful irrelevant comments. Your comment was sent specifically to three different people. I do not appreciate being spammed by nonsense. If you have an issue, then please ask a question. If you can offer helpful assistance to people, then please do.