Mail Backuped - When put back a lot of mail is missing

[EU-Import]

L.S.,

I have IMAP email. Thunderbird is configured to save local (AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles folder). When the IMAP server is full (first I shut Thunderbird down) i go to the IMAP-local folder and copy the very large files (the NOT-MSF-files). I place these files in the folder of the NOT-IMAP local folder (and rename them otherwise I would have doubles). I then start Thunderbird and delete the emails in the IMAP-folders through Thunderbird.
In the local folders I see the just added files as folders. Thunderbird makes MSF files for the new files/folders. Unfortunately I only see 167 emails of the at least 8.000! The file is 5.8GB! I've tried to solve the problem by deleting the newly created MSF (after shutting Thunderbird down) but thunderbird keeps making the same MSF with only 167 emails. I've also tried the solution to create just one local folder in which I import the file over ImportExportTools AddOn, but I get the same result.

Can somebody tell me how I can see my 8.000 emails?

I'm prepared to pay for the solution.

Thanks,

Anton van Horen

[DanRaisch]

Unfortunately it is possible that your messages are no longer there. Thunderbird has a (url=http://kb.mozillazine.org/Limits_-_Thunderbird] file size limit of 4GB[/url] that applies to local folders and local copies of messages synched from IMAP accounts. The reported size of 5.8GB exceeds that by enough to suggest that file corruption may have caused data loss which can occur if Thunderbird is unable to accurately identify the end of the message file and truncates the fule to an invalid point. Since the messages have been deleted from the IMAP server, they may only be recoverable by requesting the email provider if they restore the account to its condition before the messages were deleted. At that point, messages could be copies from the IMAP folder to sub-folders of Thunderbird's Local Folders structure, placing approximately 1/2 (or less) of the messages into each sub-folder created for the purpose. That would result in file size of less than 4GB.