Thunderbird message search suddenly extremely slow

[DanRaisch]

The reason to use an email client is to have one's emails one one's hard disc.

That is only true for users who do not need to access their mail from multiple computers. For those that do, using an IMAP account provides access to all folders from any machine on which the user can run Thunderbird, whether from the hard drive or a flash drive. For them, a Global Search may be slow and problematic due to server responsiveness so they can choose not to perform such searches except on their own system to which they have synched all account folders.

[Dave Rado]

The reason to use an email client is to have one's emails one one's hard disc.

That is only true for users who do not need to access their mail from multiple computers. For those that do, using an IMAP account provides access to all folders from any machine on which the user can run Thunderbird, whether from the hard drive or a flash drive. For them, a Global Search may be slow and problematic due to server responsiveness so they can choose not to perform such searches except on their own system to which they have synched all account folders.

I run IMAP - as I stated near the start of this thread. My emails are synced to my laptop and to my phone and are also available to view on the server using webmail.

As with everyone who uses IMAP, my emails are stored on the local storage device of all my devices. So there is no reason ever to run a search on the server from any of my email clients.

If I didn't want to store my emails on my local storage devices there would be no reason to use an email client - it would make far more sense to use webmail in a web browser.

However, if anyone uses Thunderbird but for some reason chooses not to store their emails on their local storage device and wants to search the server, then it would make far more sense for them to use webmail in their browser to do the search, rather than using Thunderbird to do it, because the emails on the server will be indexed if they log into their webmail, but will not be indexed by Thunderbird. So there is no sensible reason for them to use Thunderbird to search the server and there is certainly no sensible reason for anyone who has their emails stored locally using IMAP or POP to search the server.

But if anyone really wants to do so they can. The option is there but it should NOT be sticky.

The fact that the option to search the email server is sticky resulted in me having impossibly slow searches for 5 whole months, to the extent that for that entire period I couldn't use Thunderbird to search my emails - I had to either use webmail or use the email client on my phone.

I started this thread last April because my Thunderbird searches had suddenly become impossibly slow, and I eventually worked out in September (without any help from this thread) that the cause of the problem was that I had accidentially turned on the option to "Run search on server" in April, and because that option is sticky, it had stayed switched on until I finally noticed it in September. I'm sure I'm not the only person this has happened to.

So that setting should NOT be sticky.

I asked yesterday how to raise a feature request about this and I still haven't received a reply to my question.

Dave

[DanRaisch]

As with everyone who uses IMAP, my emails are stored on the local storage device of all my devices. So there is no reason ever to run a search on the server from any of my email clients.

Not necessarily true for everyone. Synching messages to the client is optional and can be switched off or on for each folder within an account.

there is certainly no sensible reason for anyone who has their emails stored locally using IMAP or POP to search the server.

Just for clarity, it isn’t even possible to search for messages on the server from the client when accessing the account with a POP type account.

In fact you are either the only person or one of a very small number of users who have reported such a significant problem with this function. At least it is not something seen with any frequency on these forums.

You can open a bug report here — https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/home

[Dave Rado]

You can open a bug report here — https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/home

I don't think it's a bug, it's just an undesirable (and in my opinion unjustifiable) feature. Is there no way of opening a feature request about it?

Dave

[Gone Postal]

Quote from the right-hand sidebar on this page:

"mozillaZine is an independent Mozilla community and advocacy site. We're not affiliated or endorsed by the Mozilla Corporation but we love them just the same."

If you have any problems with the configuration of Thunderbird you would be better addressing directly the developers and publishers of Thunderbird. The people who make voluntary contributions to this forum have no formal links with that organisation.

[DanRaisch]

You can open a bug report here — https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/home

I don't think it's a bug, it's just an undesirable (and in my opinion unjustifiable) feature. Is there no way of opening a feature request about it?

The same website is used to proposed "enhancements" in addition to reporting bugs.

[Dave Rado]

If you have any problems with the configuration of Thunderbird you would be better addressing directly the developers and publishers of Thunderbird.

The question I asked was how to do exactly that.

[Dave Rado]

You can open a bug report here — https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/home

I don't think it's a bug, it's just an undesirable (and in my opinion unjustifiable) feature. Is there no way of opening a feature request about it?

The same website is used to proposed "enhancements" in addition to reporting bugs.

I can't see any option there to propose enhancements. The only options I can see are:

• I need technical support

• Report an issue with a website that I use

• File a web compatibility issue

• Report a new bug in a Mozilla product

• Create a new Bugzilla account

• Provide feedback at Mozilla Connect

Do I have to choose "Report a new bug" even though it isn't a bug?

Dave

[Dauperlong]

For people wondering where this option "run on server" "auf server suchen " is:
right click on left pane side the folder You want to search an click on search...
new window opens with the option

[Dauperlong]

I also found the search slow even with the "run on server" option deactivated. Looks like a Bug:

On the global search everything is fast, and You can see where in the message the searched entry is highlighted.
The fast search, quicksearch bar is the culprit.
Typing same search word there and the clickable option to search/filter in content of email not just sender etc. is activated results in "no message found" for some long seconds to a minute, so normally nobody would wait for the results to appear after all.
So bad programming: showing that nothing was found while search is still going on but not showing that something is in progress. Solution: Nothing found YET and a busy symbol

Next Bug: it's too slow because global search is nearly instant, so different programming/ bad programming once again

Next Bug:
deleting the search entry and doing it all over again with same search results in no time advantages like in the global search

Next Bug:
typing slowly qqqq results in ever-changing numbers of messages supposedly having this content next to the search bar, but they are all wrong and change with the waiting time
With my individual email folder first it showed 233 messages next to the bar while showing nothing found underneath, after some waiting time it showed 3 messages each,
BUT in global search there was nothing found for qqqq. I also searched the 3 emails for the string qqqq but was not successful, so total programming error.
Short Version:
Quick search can find emails supposedly with a string after long waiting time without highlighting the searched string in the emails (contrary to global search) but actually they don't contain the searched string.

[DanRaisch]

Dauperlong, if you are referring to the Search Messages functionality accessed via Ctrl+Shift+F (or menu path Edit->Find->Search Messages) you are missing the fact that that search does not use an index, resulting in longer response times.

If you are referring to something else, please clarify your comments by identifying how you access the search function.

Do I have to choose "Report a new bug" even though it isn't a bug?

I believe that is the method you want.

[Dave Rado]

Dauperlong, if you are referring to the Search Messages functionality accessed via Ctrl+Shift+F (or menu path Edit->Find->Search Messages) you are missing the fact that that search does not use an index, resulting in longer response times.

When I do a search using Ctrl+Shift+F and with Run Search on Server switched off, the searches are extremely fast and are clearly indexed.

Dave

[DanRaisch]

When I do a search using Ctrl+Shift+F and with Run Search on Server switched off, the searches are extremely fast and are clearly indexed.

Sorry, i misspoke. With that functionality it is indexed but you are searching one folder at a time, not the message store of the entire account as with a global search.

How are you initiating the search where you are seeing slow response times?

[Dave Rado]

How are you initiating the search where you are seeing slow response times?

I presume you were addressing that question to Dauperlong rather than to me.

I started this thread last April because my searches using Ctrl+Shift+F had suddenly become impossibly slow, which I fixed on 3rd September when I discovered that I had accidentally switched on the Run Search on Server setting in the Search Messages dialog box, which is sticky.

Now my searches are extremely fast even if I do the search for the entire email account (by setting "Search for messages in" to my email address at the top, rather than to any folder) - which searches every folder, not just one.

Dauperlong has a different issue. I don't think he's using Ctrl+Shift+F - he referred to the "quicksearch bar", by which I'm guessing he must mean the Quick Filter bar, but I'm not sure.