Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

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SkylerDawn
Posts: 3
Joined: December 2nd, 2021, 2:44 pm

Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

Post by SkylerDawn »

Hi,

I was attempting to create a local copy of my emails on my computer, Some googling lead me to the "Move" option in Thunderbird. I created a folder in my %Appdata%/LocalFolders and used the Move option to transfer them to this local folder. They promptly disappeared leaving me with an unloadable "Filename.msf" and Thunderbird is asking if I want to wipe the deleted files every time I open it.

A) Are the Files I moved recoverable and if so, How?
B) What does the move option actually do so I can avoid this issue in the future

Thank you for any help
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DanRaisch
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Re: Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

Post by DanRaisch »

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

When you refer to creating "a folder in my %Appdata%/LocalFolders", how did you create that folder? Did you do it within Thunderbird or at the OS level?

The move option adds a copy of the message being moved to the target folder WITHIN Thunderbird's profile and then deletes the message from the source folder.

In the same location where you find "Filename.msf" is there also another file named "Filename" with no file name extension?
SkylerDawn
Posts: 3
Joined: December 2nd, 2021, 2:44 pm

Re: Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

Post by SkylerDawn »

It's an IMAP Server, at the OS level right clicking in that folder in file explorer to "Create New Folder".
There is not a blank file named "Filename" with no extension.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

Post by DanRaisch »

Yeah, that won't work. As I said above, Thunderbird's Move function works within Thunderbird (TB), moving messages from one TB folder to another TB folder. It does not act at the operating system folder level.

Who is the email provider for that account?

Is that IMAP account set to store local copies of the messages? Check that under menu path Tools->Account Settings->Synchronization & Storage->Message Synchronization. If that option is selected, you could try the following procedure:

* - Turn off Thunderbird
* - Using the OS file manager, locate the file containing the message (same name as the folder in Thunderbird, no extension) in your profile http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird
* - Copy that file to the OS level folder C:\Users\WINUSER ID\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders (where WINUSERID is your Windows user ID and xxxxxxx.default is the profile name created during your installation of Thunderbird.)
* - Rename the file by adding "recovered" to the end of the file name (That is, if the TB folder that lost messages was Inbox, name the copied file Inboxrecovered
* - Open the new file with Notepad (or another text editor)
* - Locate the messages that were deleted by the move
* - Change the status (X-Mozilla-Status) to all zero
* - Save that file
* - Restart Thunderbird
* - In Thunderbird, access the Local Folder structure and select the Recovered folder.
SkylerDawn
Posts: 3
Joined: December 2nd, 2021, 2:44 pm

Re: Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

Post by SkylerDawn »

Thank you, That worked like a charm. Thank you for the easy to follow and simple instruction.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Move Mail to Local Folders has gone bad

Post by DanRaisch »

You’re welcome.
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