recover lost emails from Inbox.mozmsgs folder

[runuts]

I had a problem last week and again this morning of my inbox file disappearing and being replaced with a new empty file. The downloaded messages appear to still be present (at least the text portion) as wdseml files in the inbox.mozmsgs folder. Is there a simple way to import these messages back into the Thunderbird inbox? It's rather cumbersome to go through them one at a time with notepad.

[DanRaisch]

Thunderbird itself does not create a folder named inbox.mozmsgs. Is that something you created yourself?
Are the other default folders present and populated? (Sent, Trash, Drafts, etc)
Have you reviewed this article for possible solutions -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_ ... isappeared

[runuts]

No, I did not created the folder or files. These perhaps were created by Windows to aide in searches. There is a folder corresponding to each of the "Local Folders". Inside are files containing what appears to be the text portion of the email with the file suffix .wdseml. I will investigate the post you referenced and let you know if I find any answers.

[sunshowers]

Thunderbird itself does not create a folder named inbox.mozmsgs

Assuming that the user is running Thunderbird 3 nightlies or betas, Tb will create .mozmsgs folders.

[DanRaisch]

Moving from Thunderbird Support to Thunderbird Builds, where support is available for pre-release versions.

[runuts]

Problem solved. It appears that the *.mozmsgs folders and *.wdseml files are created to integrate Thunderbird 3 with Windows Vista Search. These folders and files are created in a manner that allows Windows to index them.

I copied the missing files from the *.mozmsgs folder in my profile to a new folder. Used the command prompt to change the file extension from .wdseml to .eml and then used Import/Export Tools Add-On to import the missing messages back into Thunderbird.

Hopefully this solution will be useful to others.

[DanRaisch]

Thanks for posting your findings on this.

[runuts]

Glad to have found a solution and hope that it helps others. It should be noted that the wdseml files do not contain any attachments that may have been part of the original message, but they do at least allow a user to recover messages that would otherwise have been lost and contact the original sender if necessary.

It appears, and others may correct me if I am wrong, that if everything is working normally, when a message is deleted from a folder, the corresponding wdseml file is also deleted, but if the mbox file becomes corrupted or is missing, the wdseml files are not cleared and provide a recovery option.

Though, I am sure not intended as a recovery tool, the creation of the mozmsgs folders and wdseml files adds an extra degree of robustness to Thunderbird, particularly when used with a POP account.

[Barton_C]

Problem solved. It appears that the *.mozmsgs folders and *.wdseml files are created to integrate Thunderbird 3 with Windows Vista Search. These folders and files are created in a manner that allows Windows to index them.

I copied the missing files from the *.mozmsgs folder in my profile to a new folder. Used the command prompt to change the file extension from .wdseml to .eml and then used Import/Export Tools Add-On to import the missing messages back into Thunderbird.

Hopefully this solution will be useful to others.

Thank you!!! Saved me from writing something my self. It was a bit tricky to find though...
29/1/2010 : 2.3.2 version of ImportExportTools

[JDailey]

This fix still works. You can just copy all of the .eml files in windows and drag them into a folder in Thunderbird.