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Unable to save/export .eml files from one folder

  • 2 replies
  • 0 have this problem
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  • Last reply by sfhowes

admin616
admin616
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After failing to switch to a new web hosting in time, I'm out of access to the old mail server, exporting remaining local email copies from Thunderbird to later import them into the same account under a new hosting provider. I've successfully grabbed copies from every other folder but there appears to be an issue with getting messages out of a particular mail folder.

I've tried exporting both via the native Save As... dialog as well as ImportExportTools extension. With this one folder, both methods silently fail without producing any output (files or error message).

  1. Are there other ways to export I could try?
  2. Is there a verbose mode or similar I could activate to get more info about the underlying issue and maybe report a bug?
After failing to switch to a new web hosting in time, I'm out of access to the old mail server, exporting remaining local email copies from Thunderbird to later import them into the same account under a new hosting provider. I've successfully grabbed copies from every other folder but there appears to be an issue with getting messages out of a particular mail folder. I've tried exporting both via the native Save As... dialog as well as ImportExportTools extension. With this one folder, both methods silently fail without producing any output (files or error message). # Are there other ways to export I could try? # Is there a verbose mode or similar I could activate to get more info about the underlying issue and maybe report a bug?

All Replies (2)

admin616
admin616 Question owner
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Upon closer investigation, it appears the messages inside the problematic folder are not, for whatever reason, fully present in the local disk. Instead, just some basic metadata (subject, a few words from the message body, timestamp, attachment file names, correspondents) is stored locally. This is causing all messages to get skipped during export.

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If the folder is set to download headers only (Account Settings, Sync. & Storage, Message Sync.), the profile contains only an .msf index file, not the mbox with the same name that contains the message contents.