How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

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.
Do you have the Global Search and Indexer option switched on or off?.
Its set up as IMAP on all my accounts.

Yes I have global search and indexer enabled.
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DanRaisch
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by DanRaisch »

Close Thunderbird and navigate to the profile folder. Delete the file global-messages-db.sqlite. Launch Thunderbird and allow time for it to rebuild that index file before trying to perform a global search.
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

DanRaisch wrote:Close Thunderbird and navigate to the profile folder. Delete the file global-messages-db.sqlite. Launch Thunderbird and allow time for it to rebuild that index file before trying to perform a global search.
You got me confused. What does performing a search have to do with reducing the size of the profile?

Btw, I already deleted global-messages-db.sqlite. Profile size is lower but only by the size of that deleted file.
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DanRaisch
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by DanRaisch »

Well, let's see. Deleting that index file, which is used when performing global searches and which is found in the profile, reduces the size of the profile by the size of the file. When that file is rebuilt by Thunderbird it will contain only current data and should be smaller than the file just deleted. Since the goal is to reduce the size of the profile, that seems to be a step in the right direction.
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

DanRaisch wrote:Well, let's see. Deleting that index file, which is used when performing global searches and which is found in the profile, reduces the size of the profile by the size of the file. When that file is rebuilt by Thunderbird it will contain only current data and should be smaller than the file just deleted. Since the goal is to reduce the size of the profile, that seems to be a step in the right direction.
Wow.. 40MB within 1.05GB.. amazing step in the right direction.

Anyway theres a huge problem I noticed. Whenever I undelete new mail that has been deleted it doesn't come back to the inbox. Nor do I find it in the local trash or server trash. Why does this happen? How can I fix it?
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DanRaisch
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by DanRaisch »

How are you un-deleting the messages and from where are you doing that?
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

DanRaisch wrote:How are you un-deleting the messages and from where are you doing that?
Well when new mail arrives and I read it, I delete it by pressing the 'delete' key. When I change my mind and want to keep it instead I do ctrl+Z to undo changes. And it doesnb't come back. Its not even in both the local or server trash. This never happened until the last update.
mgagnonlv
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by mgagnonlv »

You were questioning the size of your Thunderbird profile and as others said, it's generally not an issue. However, there may be speed-related issues with larger folders, especially if you also connect with your phone.

As you use IMAP, one solution is to create archives of your main folders. For example:
– Inbox 2010-2015
– Sent mail 2010-2015
...and move messages from the inbox and sent mail folders to these new ones. It won't reduce the overall size of your Thunderbird profile but will improve speed because your Inbox and Sent mail folders – the ones that see a lot of traffic – will be smaller to manage.

If you don't want to see these messages in Thunderbird, then unsubscribe from them. The messages will be left on your ISP server and will still be accessible by webmail, but they won't be in Thunderbird. Note that I don't recommend this practice, as it doesn't leave you with any backup at home.

***************

If you send and receive a lot of attachments, another tip you might use is to alter the messages in Thunderbird. In the list of messages, right-click in the column header (where it is written: Subject, Correspondent, Date...) and select the column "size" to display the size of all your messages.
Then sort messages by size, look at the larger ones, display them and remove the attachments (especially those of older messages and those where you already have the files on your computer). That way, you will still keep a trace of your correspondence, but without the bulky attachments.
Michel Gagnon
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

DanRaisch wrote:How are you un-deleting the messages and from where are you doing that?
Hi Dan. Did you read my last post to you?

Hi mgagnonlv. How can I automatically remove attachemnts from my mail without deleting corresponding mail themselves?
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DanRaisch
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by DanRaisch »

Hi Dan. Did you read my last post to you?
I did, but I had to wait to respond when I was at a system with an IMAP account in Thunderbird.

What do you have selected under Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings for "When I delete a message"?
Who is the provider of the IMAP account?
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

DanRaisch wrote:
Hi Dan. Did you read my last post to you?
I did, but I had to wait to respond when I was at a system with an IMAP account in Thunderbird.

What do you have selected under Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings for "When I delete a message"?
Who is the provider of the IMAP account?
Hi dan.. I got the following for all my 3 accounts:
imap.gmail.com.... port 993

Apart from this, was there an update today or yesterday? I ask because my folders have re-arranged themselves.. very weird.
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DanRaisch
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by DanRaisch »

No NEW update that I am aware of but you could just be getting one that I got previously. The current release version is 52.1.1.

No, I was asking about the section of settings under Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->"When I delete a message"?
Also, who is the provider of the IMAP account?
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

DanRaisch wrote: No, I was asking about the section of settings under Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->"When I delete a message"?
Hi Dan.. I see what you mean. Under "When I delete a message" theres a radio button marked for: "Move it to this folder". But no folder is designated for it. Instead it just says, "Choose folder" which gives me these folder options: 'Inbox', 'Drafts', 'Archive', 'Gmail'. And under Gmail: 'Sent Mail', 'Spam' and 'Trash'.

I'm also presented with 2 other options under Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->"When I delete a message":
"Just mark it as deleted."
"Remove it immediately."


What are the pros and cons of each option?
Also, who is the provider of the IMAP account?
Gmail as i said before.
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tanstaafl
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by tanstaafl »

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Deleting_mess ... P_accounts . Moving it to the trash folder is the old school solution. It is best if you like to accumulate lots of deleted messages in the trash folder and review them later on before emptying the trash. "just mark it as deleted" is the most convenient alternative as it makes it easy to undelete a message, and see/use any deleted messages. "remove it immediately" is useful if you just want to delete messages and never look at them again, and don't care about changing your mind. If you choose it I'd think about setting mail.imap.expunge_option to 1 . Personally I use "just mark it as deleted" and set mail.imap.expunge_option to 2.
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koolx
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Re: How Do I Shrink TB? It's Gotten a Bit Bigger

Post by koolx »

tanstaafl wrote:See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Deleting_mess ... P_accounts . Moving it to the trash folder is the old school solution. It is best if you like to accumulate lots of deleted messages in the trash folder and review them later on before emptying the trash. "just mark it as deleted" is the most convenient alternative as it makes it easy to undelete a message, and see/use any deleted messages. "remove it immediately" is useful if you just want to delete messages and never look at them again, and don't care about changing your mind. If you choose it I'd think about setting mail.imap.expunge_option to 1. Personally I use "just mark it as deleted" and set mail.imap.expunge_option to 2.
Hi tanstaafl,

I like "just mark it as deleted" to see mail crossed out. But after I delete it, it doesn't go to the trash. And it's marked as deleted for a short time only. It doesn't appear to be deleted forever from gmail. Does it delete mail forever from TB and gmail?

I want to use "just mark it as deleted". But I need 2 things with it:
1) To retain mail for 1 day and be able to undelete it for that time.
2) Have it permanently deleted from TB and gmail.

Is this possible?
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