Huge INBOX file

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OveSentlig
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Joined: December 7th, 2004, 6:27 am

Huge INBOX file

Post by OveSentlig »

[Thunderbird 99.0b2, macOS 12.3]

Lately Thunderbird has become slow, and I see the beachball regularly. Browsed the profile directories and noticed the huge INBOX file.
Image

Checking the sizes of all folders, I do not have 7.93GB of stuff! Compacting folders does not change anything.
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Ove Sentlig
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tanstaafl
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by tanstaafl »

I can't see the image. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Posting_a_scr ... _the_forum

Try repairing the folder listing by right clicking on the folder in the folder pane, selecting properties, and then pressing the repair folder button.

Some more information such as whether its a POP or IMAP account, and is this problem account specific would help. If its a IMAP account it might also be useful to know the IMAP quota/maximum mailbox size (its available via the inbox properties) . Its unlikely to help but still worth trying help -> troubleshoot mode to see if this is due to an add-on.

You're using beta 2. I'm going to move this thread from Thunderbird Support (production releases) to Thunderbird Builds.

I also have beta 2 installed (under Windows 11 Pro) and the inbox sizes match what I see in 91.7.0 and daily (for a IMAP account). For example my Fastmail inbox is 190MB, the misc. folder tree has 289MB and the quota shows I'm using 581MB of 1.9GB.
OveSentlig
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by OveSentlig »

Its an IMAP account, my own domain. Mail quota on the server is 1.5 GB and usage 298 MB; Thunderbird says I'm using 285 MB (on the Quota tab in Inbox folder properties). I setup this same account in the Mail app, and it reports used 299 MB.

I have done Compact folders and Repair folder, several times. No change.

The image is shared from my iCloud Drive, I don't know why it doesn't work.
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Ove Sentlig
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tanstaafl
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by tanstaafl »

I just compared my Fastmail inbox and quota in Thunderbird with what "em client" (a popular Windows email client) says and they're identical. In your case Thunderbird and mail.app have different results but are within 5%.

"The image is shared from my iCloud Drive, I don't know why it doesn't work."
If I copy and paste https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/051i ... 8_at_15.10 to the address bar in my browser I can't see the image but it has a download button which works. I didn't even see that URL until I used the edit button (which is only enabled for me due to my being a moderator) to see what you had typed in your post. I had expected you to use a HTML <img> tag with a absolute (full) URL. See https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_images.asp

It seems to be a listing of the ImapMail directory in your profile. Its 16.35GB. It has a 8.49GB local directory for an account, which includes a 7.93GB inbox plus about 0.6GB of other folders. Not clear where the remaining 8GB in ImapMail is.

How large does the folder pane size column in Thunderbird say the inbox folder is?

I assume you see a much smaller inbox file if you use 91.7.0. My first thought would be to add a Gmail IMAP account and see if it has similar problems. You could copy a couple of folders from your existing account to it to get it to over 1GB and see if your problem is account specific. My second thought would be to exit the beta and delete the "inbox." and "inbox.msf" files and let it re-create them when you restart the beta. If the problem doesn't return than you could consider it due to a upgrade glitch that a normal user won't see.
OveSentlig
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by OveSentlig »

Thank you @tanstaafl !!
I had been thinking about simply erasing the inbox. and inbox.msf files but didn't have to courage to do it. Well, I just did it. Thunderbird "rebuilt itself" and now the INBOX. file is 24MB instead of 8GB. Huge difference.

Edit: did a new Tools/Export of my profile: size of the .zip file is 5.1GB. Yesterday, before changes, it was 31GB.
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Ove Sentlig
DN123ABC
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by DN123ABC »

So, this condition will NOT correct itself?
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tanstaafl
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by tanstaafl »

Maybe if you got really lucky and deleted the appropriate messages and compacted the folder the problem would go away but we don't know what caused the bloating. So I'd assume it is not going to go away on its own. Do you have a similar problem?
DN123ABC
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by DN123ABC »

Yes, on different PC's and different versions.
siffemoz
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by siffemoz »

I don't see Tools/Export - ?
OveSentlig wrote:Thank you @tanstaafl !!
I had been thinking about simply erasing the inbox. and inbox.msf files but didn't have to courage to do it. Well, I just did it. Thunderbird "rebuilt itself" and now the INBOX. file is 24MB instead of 8GB. Huge difference.

Edit: did a new Tools/Export of my profile: size of the .zip file is 5.1GB. Yesterday, before changes, it was 31GB.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by tanstaafl »

Install the ImportExportTools NG add-on. That adds a Tools -> ImportExportTools NG menu which lets you import/export foiders or messages and backup/restore profiles.
wsmwk
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Re: Huge INBOX file

Post by wsmwk »

OveSentlig wrote:Thank you @tanstaafl !!
I had been thinking about simply erasing the inbox. and inbox.msf files but didn't have to courage to do it. Well, I just did it. Thunderbird "rebuilt itself" and now the INBOX. file is 24MB instead of 8GB. Huge difference.

Edit: did a new Tools/Export of my profile: size of the .zip file is 5.1GB. Yesterday, before changes, it was 31GB.
That is a significant change. My suspicion is the folders have multiple copies of some messages, and the folders keep growing. This has been known to happen. I'll see if I can find a bug report.

You can also see folder size by right clickikng onthe folder in thunderbird and pick properties.
Is any folder still growing quicker than it should?
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