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\AppData\....\INBOX-6 file is too big (9.5GB)

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  • Last reply by Matt

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Windows 7, Thunderbird 31.3.0. I have a Thunderbird file \users\<name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<...>.default\ImapMail\mail.<domain>.com\INBOX-6 that has grown to 9.5 GB. I've archived almost all my mail and I've compacted the folders but I can't seem to reduce this size of this file. The timestamp on the file is up to the minute. Where does the stuff in this file come from? How can I reduce the size of this file?

Windows 7, Thunderbird 31.3.0. I have a Thunderbird file \users\<name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<...>.default\ImapMail\mail.<domain>.com\INBOX-6 that has grown to 9.5 GB. I've archived almost all my mail and I've compacted the folders but I can't seem to reduce this size of this file. The timestamp on the file is up to the minute. Where does the stuff in this file come from? How can I reduce the size of this file?

Chosen solution

Ok, I was cleaning up a bunch on my main email account but it turned out that one of my lesser used accounts was the culprit. AppData folders were just numbered 1...2...3 without the actual names so I figured incorrectly. Thanks.

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that is the inbox folder of whatever account.

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Matt said

that is the inbox folder of whatever account.

So then, why doesn't archiving 90% cause the file size to shrink?

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do you have expunge turned on in account settings? Tools menu > account settings > server settings.

While huge files like that can of themselves cause failures, the most common is that expunge is not turned on, so the deletions never actually pass to the server so the file can not shrink because the deleted data is still linked to valid mail on the server.

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Yes, I have 'expunge' turned on.

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Chosen Solution

Ok, I was cleaning up a bunch on my main email account but it turned out that one of my lesser used accounts was the culprit. AppData folders were just numbered 1...2...3 without the actual names so I figured incorrectly. Thanks.

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I am pleased it was that simple.