Building summary files problem

klilla5 · Post by **klilla5** » January 31st, 2019, 2:58 am

When there is a Thunderbird update, I always have the following problem: Building summary files for all of my folders. It takes forever. I have around 30.000 e-mails... Previously I have deleted msf files, but it didn't helped. Could you please help me to stop this? Thank you!

Post by **DanRaisch** » January 31st, 2019, 5:32 am

What version of Thunderbird?
How is the account set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? Find out using menu path Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.

klilla5 · Post by **klilla5** » January 31st, 2019, 5:35 am

Version 60.5.0, POP account.

Post by **DanRaisch** » January 31st, 2019, 5:43 am

How many messages in the folder(s) for which this summary building problem is occurring?

klilla5 · Post by **klilla5** » January 31st, 2019, 8:00 am

I have about 30.000 emails

Post by **DanRaisch** » January 31st, 2019, 11:19 am

In one folder?

klilla5 · Post by **klilla5** » February 1st, 2019, 6:53 am

Yes in one folder (inbox)

Post by **DanRaisch** » February 1st, 2019, 7:39 am

Well, then that's about 29,900 messages too many for a POP type account Inbox. Storing messages in the Inbox of any POP email account is a very bad practice. As the busiest area of the system, the Inbox is most at risk of data corruption and corresponding data loss. The more messages in the Inbox, the more messages at risk of loss. Creating an organization of folders, typically under Local Folders, and moving all but the most recent messages from the Inbox to that structure, will help to minimize risk of loss and improve performance.

Now, backup your Profile ( http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup )

Create a structure of new sub-folders under Local Folders. Copy all of the messages currently in your Inbox to those new sub-folders. You might organize the structure by year, or by sender, or some other pattern. Note that a sub-folder in this location can have more messages with less risk as it is not being accessed and changed constantly as is the case with the Inbox.

Confirm that you have made the recommended backup of your Profile.

Close Thunderbird and navigate to the \Mail\email provider sub-folder of your Profile folder. For instance, if you have a Gmail account that sub-directory might be C:\Users\USERID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\pop.gmail.com. (USERID is your Windows user ID and xxxxxxxx is the 8 random character profile name assigned by TB when the profile is created.)

In that \Mail\pop.gmail.com sub-directory, delete both the file Inbox.msf and the file Inbox with no extension.

Restart Thunderbird and you should find a new, empty Inbox folder in place. Copy any messages you MUST have in your Inbox from the sub-folder structure created above to the Inbox. Compact the Inbox after those messages are copied in.

The "Real Fix" entry in this article -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders#Real_fix also describes this process.

Building summary files problem

Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem

Re: Building summary files problem