Slow marking / moving of messages (possible regression?)
Been using Thunderbird for Windows for a long time perhaps a decade. I am really happy and thankful for Thunderbird and Mozilla being precious havens of software sanity at a time where software and the web are often going against users interest.
Since about three weeks ago operation on individual messages became unusually slow sometimes. Marking or moving a message sometimes take 1-2 seconds instead of being instantaneous. It also affect fetching new e-mail, there is that noticeable "freezing" time. Some mail boxes are affected, some not.
It doesn't always act this way, sometimes it is still instantaneous but I haven't found the reason why or a pattern. If I move all my messages from Inbox to a new folder it still happens. Back to Inbox, still happens.
Any suggestion at what I may be able to do to fix it? I *think* it started happened after I did a "Compact Folders" which is something I do quite rarely and so I remember the moment I did it and when I felt things were going slow.
My inbox is currently about 150 MB. Thunderbird manage about 12 GB worth of e-mails. Using Thunderbird 38.3.0 on Windows 8.1 64-bits, English."
All Replies (7)
What is your anti-virus software?
It's recommended to let Thunderbird automatically compact folders. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders
My inbox is currently about 150 MB.
Accumulating messages in Inbox is not recommended. Always keep your Inbox as tidy as possible. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Keep_it_working_-_Thunderbird
I'm not using an anti-virus software apart from Windows 8.1 default Defender which has been running for a year.
Inbox with 592 messages and about 150 MB is the smallest is has ever been ever. It had 3000+ messages for a long time and no sign of latency when performing message actions. Most of those actions such as marking a message read/unread should be applied on the mailbox index that are designed to perform in near-constant time.
You can try to start *Windows* in safe mode with networking enabled.
- Win8 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-including-safe-mode
Still in Windows safe mode, start Thunderbird in safe mode.
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/safe-mode
Does the problem go away?
Just tried again and it didn't make a difference. (I also forgot to mention I already had tried to disable all extensions of Thunderbird before).
The suggestion was to start Windows in safe mode.
Chris, sorry for my late answer. Windows safe mode doesn't make a difference.
The reason I don't think the issue is related to an exterior cause is that using "Compact Folders" sometimes (but not every time) immediately fix the delay. I yet have to understand what exactly makes it toggle from instant to slow and vice-versa.
I feel really terrible about this. For the first time in ten years considering switching away from Thunderbird that I loved so much, because having a 1-2 seconds delay on most action is really hard to bear from a end user experience.
Modified by mozomar
There's still a possibility of some sort of corruption. You can try the 'real fix'. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders#Real_fix