unable to delete message in inbox

[snowyowl13]

snowyowl13...
Please start your own thread, as these can get rather involved & confusing, if answering more than one person.
Many ta's.

Thanks for the helpful answer to my first post on here!

[LIMPET235]

Hello snowyowl13,
If I hadn't asked you to start a new thread, then another moderator would have, for exactly the same reason.
Sorry that you feel aggrieved but, "Them's the facts.....man."

It's easy to do, just hit the "New Topic" button, at the top left of your chosen forum.

We're all just users helping users, here.

[snowyowl13]

I can start a new thread but my reason for posting in this thread is that I followed the advice in this thread and had a problem. Since the same advice still exists in this thread, others need to know that he advice is bad.

[DanRaisch]

Since the same advice still exists in this thread, others need to know that he advice is bad.

Bad in your case. We haven't heard back from efagent since Daifne's last post so we don't know whether it was good advice in their case or not.

[alpinista44]

This only began for me when I downloaded the last update for Thunderbird. I think it is a crock that something embedded in that update caused a problem that had NEVER existed before...and that the solution is to turn off, turn on, modify, or spin in a circle while whistling Dixie....maybe Thunderbird should just fix the problem (meanwhile, I'm off in search of a better email service).

[DanRaisch]

And you're making an unwarranted assumption. Since we never heard back from efagent we still don't know what was causing their problem. It might have been something in Thunderbird itself but it's much more likely to have been some problem with their profile and the data files it contains, or an installed extension that was not yet compatible with the updated program.

If your interest is in keeping your email client (it's not an email service BTW) working, then doing the appropriate diagnostic procedures to support that should not be a burden. If it's too much for you, then enjoy the next email client you select. Just don't expect it to start and forever stay perfect in every way with every update. No such software exists.

[Gwell]

Hi,

I have the same problem. My computer is running on windows seven. I used Thunderbird from years on windows XP (and I am happy with it). However, when I try to delete any message from my mail accounts I have the error message saying "The operation failed because an other operation is using the folder. Please wait for that operation to finish and then try again.".

I think it is really a problem linked to windows seven, because the files associated to my mail accounts are stored on an external hard drive. I used my external hard drive with thunderbird on various computers and I have no problem when computers are running on windows XP and I have the problem with computers running on seven....

Best

Gwell

[milica]

How can I solve the 'unable to delete' problem?
This started a couple days ago- never had this problem until then.
I tried compacting, emptying all trash files, but still cannot delete from inbox or sent box.

[DanRaisch]

POP or IMAP type account? What version of Thunderbird?

[Gwell]

Hi,

In my case, I use Thunderbird/3.1.7 (but the same problem occurred with Thunderbird 3.0) with windows seven (not with windows XP).
I use three pop accounts.

Best and you for your help

Gwell

[DanRaisch]

Does the same thing occur if you launch the application in Mozilla Safe Mode? http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode

[slam-er]

Hello, I have also experienced this error on my pop3 yahoo e-mail account. I am unable to delete any messages out of the main folder, or any of the sub folders that I have created. Of note, I am running Ubuntu 11.04, I copied the profile over from an install of Ubuntu 10.10. I am currently running TB 3.1.9. I have attempted deleting all of the MSF files contained in the profile folder, that did not produce any results. I also tried starting Thunderbird in safe mode and it did nothing either.

Of note, I am able to delete mail from my other accounts that are setup with IMAP access without any problems. It is only the pop account that is giving me trouble.

[DanRaisch]

Can you copy messages from the Inbox folder of that account to a sub-folder of Local Folders?

[slam-er]

I am able to move messages to different sub-folders, however, deleting the messages from those sub-folders still results in the same error message. It would be nice if the error message actually mentioned what process it was that was using the folder. I have compacted the folder as suggested by previous messages but it did nothing to solve the problem.

[DanRaisch]

First backup your profile -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup but do not compact folders as recommended in that link.
Close Thunderbird and navigate to your Profile Folder ( http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Folder ). Find the files with the extension msf, such as Inbox.msf. Note that there will be sets of two files with the name but only one of these will have the MSF extension. Delete the files with the MSF extension. Restart Thunderbird, compact all folders, and see if things are back to normal. Note that the MSF files do NOT contain your messages. They are a type of index file and will be recreated by Thunderbird as required.