Reinstalled Thunderbird 78.6 fails to display my default folders
I am running Win10 Pro on a Dell XPS 1645 laptop which I normally run 24/7. I shutdown the PC a couple of days ago and upon rebooting, it appeared that a Thunderbird 78.6 update may have installed, as Thunderbird opened with three tabs displaying
- My Email address - Account Settings - Troubleshooting Information.
The display in the (My Email Address) tab now shows only Inbox and Trash under My Email Address heading, and Trash and Outbox under Local Folders heading. The 100 odd folders into which my email is normally sorted, and the messages contained in those folders, are no longer displayed - only messages which have been received since the shutdown, under Inbox. I have been through the process of overwriting the new .default file, with my backup copy of this file (which I have confirmed still contains all of the missing folders and emails), but cannot fathom why Thunderbird will no longer display the required folders and emails. I have Uninstalled and Reinstalled Thunderbird a further two times, ensuring I replace the newly created .default file from c:\users\username\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default with my backup copy of the .default file, with the same result. All other applications were shutdown for the reinstallations, including my Antivirus software. I would greatly appreciate any assistance which might allow me to resolve this issue, as I have more than 6Gb of data stored in my .default file which I wish to access. Phil
All Replies (5)
The absence of folder on an IMAP account post update almost always means the software firewall your internet security suite comes with it blocking Thunderbird.
A quick check to determine if Thunderbird can connect to the internet is to go to addon on the menu and see if anything is listed in recommendations as that is downloaded from the internet on demand.
Hi Matt and thanks for your response,
I don't think connection with the internet is the problem, as email is still flowing into the application (the Inbox now contains emails from 26/12/2020 through to the current date - not sure why 26/12/2020 is the starting point though), but the historical messages and folders into which those messages have been sorted - which date back many years, are absent.
I carried out your suggested check anyway, and 14 items were listed under Tools/Add-ons/Recommendations, and I was able to hit the 'Find More Add-ons' button at the bottom of that list, and a full selection of all Add-ons was displayed. Thunderbird is only running in Safe Mode currently too.
When I check the Update History logfile in the Troubleshooting Information tab that Thunderbird automatically opens upon startup at present, it lists a successful update to Thunderbird 78.6.0 on 18 Dec 2020, so my previous assumption that my reboot of the PC on 7 Jan 2021 instigated an update of Thunderbird, must have been incorrect. I note however that the three subsequent reinstallations of version 78.6.0, undertaken since this problem arose, are not listed in the Update History logfile, so perhaps it only ever logs the first instance of an update.
I'm not sure if this is significant, but in checking the '...App Data/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default' file, I note that it is currently listing two separate entries under the Mail subdirectory, ie Mail/Local Folders and Mail/Local Folders-1. Interestingly, Local Folders/InBox lists all of my historical email folders and messages that currently don't display in the Thunderbird front end, and Local Folders-1 shows only a very basic breakdown of subdirectories for Trash, Unsent Messages and Filters (see images).
Phil
Modified images attached.
Hi collinsnz
The images show that you have two sets of 'Local Folders' and also two pop accounts for same server. If you do have two email address that use same server then that explains the two pop accounts. But the second pop account may have been created when you copied files. I suspect if you only have one pop account then it is possible you are currently pointing to one that is newer and has less emails and the same regarding the 'Local Folders' account.
In Thunderbird Right click on the mail account name in Folder Pane and select 'Settings' Select 'Server Settings' On the right side at the bottom you will find 'Local directory:' Make the window wide enough so you can read all the contents. It may say something like this: C:\Users\User Account\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\pop3.xtra.co-1.nz If yes: Then either manually edit the text at the end to remove the -1 or use the 'Browse' button to locate and point to 'pop3.xtra.co.nz' so it now says: C:\Users\User Account\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\pop3.xtra.co.nz
Then you ned to do a similar action to choose the correct 'Local Folders' account. In left pane, select 'Local Folders' acount name On the right side you will find 'Local directory:' It will say: C:\Users\User Account\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders-1 Then either manually edit the text at the end to remove the -1 or use the 'Browse' button to locate and point to 'Local Folders' So it now says: C:\Users\User Account\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders
click on OK
Exit and then Restart Thunderbird.
Please report back on results.
Many thanks for your suggestions Toad-Hall as I think you are on the right track.
You were correct in your assumption that the application was pointing to xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\pop3.xtra.co-1.nz, and xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders-1.
Before I redirect the application to the correct folders, can you advise what will happen to the 270 messages which have been received since 26/12/2020, under the pop3.xtra.co-1.nz account, and currently appear to sit in the pop3.xtra.co-1\Inbox directory (judging by the 42MB odd of data in that location)?
Can I simply replace the pop3.xtra.co.nz\Inbox contents with those from pop3.xtra.co-1.nz\Inbox (and I would assume also the contents of the pop3.xtra.co-1.nz\Inbox.msf folder into pop3.xtra.co.nz\Inbox.msf)? Are any other changes likely to be required?
Phil
