Tried to copy the Thunderbird profile to another computer Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS and Thunderbird 115.6.0 Same result and question remains: HOW CAN I GET THE EMAILS (app. 3,000) FROM Archives.sbd, 2024 BACK TO TB?

If you can accidentally press a you might also press Ctrl+A and select everything in a list for archiving.

Right click the folder in Thunderbird, select properties from the menu and then the repair button, see if that makes the email visible.

Matt,

Thank you for answering, much appreciate it.

If you can accidentally press a you might also press Ctrl+A and select everything in a list for archiving. Yes, could have happened, but then I think it should have been visible in the archives unless something went wrong

Right click the folder in Thunderbird, select properties from the menu and then the repair button, see if that makes the email visible. I tried already before you suggest but it had no effect.

A couple a days ago when I sat and tried to solve this, I had and still have Thunderbird 112 on one computer. Thunderbird 115 on another. Same files on both computers. Both computers were disconnected from the Internet. No other link between the computers. Then the files disappeared from the 2024 folder (nothing there anymore) and it seems that they are now (all?) visible and readable in the Trash in Thunderbirds! I looked at the other computer which was on the same table but in no way were these interconnected. Same thing on the other computer! How could this be possible? I thought it must be some setting like a timer, but I can not find such a setting.

After this I deliberately archived one email from 2023. The Thunderbird established correct a 2023 folder and archived the email correct there. No problem. I deleted the mail to Trash. Now 2023 was empty in Thunderbird. The mail was readable in Trash in Thunderbird. The file was however also still in Archives.sbd, in the 2023 folder!? I have just now repeated this with another email and the repair suggested by you. Exactly the same! I do not understand this? How is it possible? When will the files disappear from the archive?

Your comment to this will be very much appreciated. Before I was not using archives but I understand that it actually can be a great help to me. However, first I must reassure somehow that there is not something completely wrong somewhere.

When you delete any email from any folder that email will still be in the original mbox file, but you will not see that email in the Message List because it has been marked as deleted and hidden from view. So it only displays in the Trash folder.

When you compact a folder, it tidies up the mbox file by removing all the emails which are 'marked as deleted'. So in your case right click on the relevant Archive folder and select 'compact' and you will find the mbox file no longer has the deleted email.

Toad-Hall,

Thank you but this sound quite strange. Why should the software keep the email "in the original mbox file"? Nobody ever compacts the folders to tidy them up. Lots of things does not make sense and does not explain what has happened according to the description above.

Toad-Hall, Thank you but this sound quite strange. Why should the software keep the email "in the original mbox file"? Nobody ever compacts the folders to tidy them up. Lots of things does not make sense and does not explain what has happened according to the description above.

Compacting is a vital part of good housekeeping in Thunderbird and it has always been used. Thunderbird comes with settings so you can force it to compact automatically or do it manually. Automatic settings -

• Settings > General
• scroll down to 'Network & Disk Space'
• Select checkbox 'Compact all folders when it will save over eg: 20MB'
• Select checkbox 'Ask everytime before compacting' (then you are aware of compacting occuring, so do not select folders etc and do not exit thunderbird - it usually takes seconds to perform)

Good information on compacting: https://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/compacting-folders

If you have deleted an email from folder A then it will not appear in folder A - it will appear in TRash. However, in profile the 'A' mbox file that email is still visible - just marked as deleted so when you compact thunderbird knows that email need to be cleared from the mbox file.

Toad-Hall,

Thank you.

I think I have located my files which is the important thing.

About compacting, I understand what you write and I am not an expert in this field. However, why on earth should the email be visible in the mbox until you compact Thunderbird? I just do not get it. Maybe some ancient thing there was a reason for long time ago and time to consider this to be obsolete