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- Amber
- The Apple State, United States
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Rising from the ashes! Lost Thunderbird Emails, Folders, Files & Profiles
9:49 PM | 
Posted by
Amber
Something mortifying happened to me today. I had to hard reboot my computer - you know when you have way too much stuff open and it's easier to just shut the stupid thing off than it is to exercise patience and close things down properly? Yeah, it was one of those moments. Power button...pressed.
So...I reboot and my email in Thunderbird is jacked up. I happen to have about 6 different email profiles that come into my email client, and several filters & folders, yada yada. I live by my email! So, when it looked differently I panic.
I open it up and I have duplicate folders, I'm missing my "work" folder, and things are just odd. I head over to Mozilla.com to see if anyone else has had this very same issue...and it seem that either I stink at searching, or I am unique in this stupid boat.
If you have ever had this problem -- here, I'll say it clearly for the search engines -- MISSING EMAIL IN THUNDERBIRD, MISSING FOLDERS IN THUNDERBIRD, MISSING FOLDERS IN THUNDERBIRD, MISSING PROFILES IN THUNDERBIRD...here's how I fixed it. And it took me about 45 minutes.
- Open Thunderbird
- Click TOOLS > ACCOUNT SETTINGS
- Remove ALL accounts
- Find your Thunderbird\Profiles\4c82ejiw.default\Mail folder
- Create a new folder (i.e. BACKUP MAIL)
- Move ALL profiles to this backup folder
- Download the file at the bottom of this page:
- Open Thunderbird > Click TOOLS > Click ADD-ONS
- Click INSTALL
- Navigate to the file you downloaded
- Click OPEN
- In Thunderbird
- Click TOOLS > ACCOUNT SETTINGS
- Add all of the accounts that are missing
- Be sure to NOT use Global Inbox (this creates separate folders for each addy
- Go back to Thunderbird\Profiles\4c82ejiw.default\Mail\NEW FOLDER (the backup folder you created)
- Identify each folder by the files within it and note what folder belongs to which address.
- Back in Thunderbird, in your folder list, right-click the first folder to import
- Import mbox file --or-- Import Directly One or More mBox files
- Sort by TYPE
- Select all of the "File" type
- Click OPEN
- All folders will import, but there will be a number appended to them.
- Right-click > RENAME > Remove numbers
That's it, I fixed it, it worked. THANK HEAVENS!!
Labels:
email client,
email lost,
import email,
import profiles,
lost folders,
lost profiles,
msf,
thunderbird
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17 comments:
Thanks for posting your experiences and solution. I am troubleshooting a Thunderbird problem where all my profiles have vanished. All the accounts, all the saved or sent mail... all are gone. I just get a window that says I have to enter an account name to get started!
The old profile folders are intact, but instead of a .default file name I have a .slt extension. I never upgraded from v. 0.7.2 (20040707). I read the FAQ about restoring profiles and it mentioned editing the profile.ini file, but it had the .slt extension, too.
I tried changing both the folder and the .ini file to say .default ... but that didn't help. It was a long shot, but I thought it was worth a try.
I would be interested to know which version of T-bird you are running. I worry about the difference in file names especially since I have already seen one that doesn't match. The last think I need is to try to fix the old version only to have it mess up the profiles. I do have several copes under different file names, so I think I am safe... at least I sure hope so!
I am thinking of downloading the latest version to a totally new location, with the expectation that it will not compromise the existing profiles. Then, hopefully, I can copy the profile folders to the new version of T-bird.
Also, I heard that some security software has caused this sort of problem with T-bird. I don't know if it is appropriate to "name names" in a blog. But, it would be nice to know whether this is a common problem.
If it is OK, could you post the anti-virus and PC security software that you are using. Then I will know it is OK to post the ones that I have that MIGHT be interferring with T-bird.
I will probably just change to another company's products anyway, just to minimize the possibility of ever having this happen again.
This should probably happen before I download the current T-bird, so that IF there is an incompatibility problem, it will not corrupt the new T-bird.
I do not know how often you check for comments, but I will visit again to see if anyone posts a reply.
Thanks for posting your solution!
I am using Thunderbird version 2.0.0.9
I have Windows Vista and use the Firewall that is included, and I use AVG AntiVirus.
I don't have a lot of experience troubleshooting Thunderbird, and sometimes their forums can be tedious. Another recommendation is visiting protonic.com ( http://www.protonic.com ) for FREE tech support -- there are several techs that use TBird there and it may be good venue for support.
Thanks for posting! :)
Thank you again for your reply. I have XP and was using Norton 360. I called the Dell tech support (I have a high level of support so they try to help with software issues too... well worth the $$ on days like this!)
Anyway, the tech there said there were several reported instances of Norton and Thunderbird problems.
A few years ago I had a major crash and a local computer shop was able to recover my Thunderbird e-mail accounts. So, I am somewhat familiar with the profile folders and swapping folders to make the default the old one with all the old messages.
The Dell tech also recommended AVG when I asked what I should try instead of Norton. I thought MacAfee might be OK, but she said she has heard of problems with McAfee and other software... but didn't know exactly which programs it didn't work with.
She said she had never heard any bad reports about AVG. So, since you like it too, it seems like a good way to go.
Do you use any system backup software? I had Norton GoBack, but Symantec support said it was preventing the 360 from backing up my files. They told me to uninstall GoBack, and I followed their suggestion. That ws just over a week ago! I am sorry I trusted them.
Thanks again!
Hi Amber,
While Googling Backup Software I discovered an interesting free program designed specifically for Mozilla applications... MozBackup.
Here is the CNet Editor's review of MozBackup
Save your settings with ease. As great as it is to have tools such as Firefox and Thunderbird, backing them up can be a tedious process. MozBackup is a tiny program that makes saving and restoring all your bookmarks, extensions, and other personal settings a streamlined and stress-free experience.
The program works with Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Netscape on Windows platforms. It doesn't work with Firefox Portable, Sunbird, Songbird, or Flock, but for standard Windows iterations of the programs in the Mozilla suite, it's almost silly to not use this program.
Close the program you want to back up, then run MozBackup. Choose backup or restore, then the application. Select the program profile and the location to save the backup, and whether you want to password protect the file. Lastly, choose which parts of the profile you want to save or restore, which range from from e-mails and address books to extensions and history, from certificates, and passwords to bookmarks and your cache.
http://www.download.com/MozBackup/3000-2242_4-10260383.html?tag=lst-3-3
I'm definitely going to download it whenever I get Thunderbird up and running again!
Hello Amber, thanks a lot for posting this. My bosses got hard headache today since they lost all years 2007 emails. Their Thunderbird shows only 2006 and 2008 emails. That is why I found this page.
I made a folder in drive D to store the emails instead of the default T-bird folder in the user's documents and settings folder. Their profiles is not missing, the account and all setting are still the same. Do you think this case is similar with yours?
thanks..
If you visit mozilla.org and go into the Thunderbird forums...here...lemme find the link:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=39
...and browse the forums because there are SEVERAL posts about missing emails. My problem was that my folders were missing.
So I'd say that this tool (in my original post) would be a last resort (though not drastic) if you can't find a quick fix on the Mozilla site.
Thunderbird is not my specialty and while I really like it, I have had my folders, profiles & emails disappear 3 different times. I posted this "fix" because I couldn't find it ANYWHERE else.
Synergies (above) posted a backup program for T-Bird (thank you Syn.) so if you're wanting to keep emails that old then that's probably a great idea!
Just had the same problem, found the solution in Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.support.thunderbird/browse_thread/thread/f58c719a2540ea7f/56fec462328f80ef?lnk=gst&q=folders+pane#56fec462328f80ef
In short, " a double click on the left-hand splitter should toggle on off the collapsed folderpane." Worked like magic, I now see my Folders pane back!
Thanks anon, I'm sure that tip will help someone -- the problem here wasn't that we couldn't view the folders though, it was that they were missing completely.
Thanks for posting this. I restored my emails. :) Now if I can only get Tbird to log on to my accounts!!!AAARRRGGGHHHH
PS. You have to use Internet Explorer to get the add on. Doesn't load with Firefox.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your excellent advice has saved my Thunderbird emails! I cannot thank you enough, Amber. Believe it or not, you were the only one on the web who knew how to conquer this problem. Your step-by-step instructions worked perfectly. Not even the techs at my local Apple store could solve this conundrum (oh, and by the way, they were the ones who caused it while trying to do a data transfer!). I saw similar instructions to yours at two different websites, but they didn't work out. They must have skipped over a step or something. Thank you!!!
Thank you so much Amber. Like you, I lost all my email folders. I searched til I found your website. I followed your instructions and yabba dabba doo, I got all my folders back! Awesome! Thanks again, Sheryl in MN
Thanks, I followed the steps to a letter and it worked perfectly. Thanks again!
Amber,
Thanks for the considerable trouble you have gone to in helping people with this.
My own experience is that no matter what I try - your tip & instructions here, the mozilla knowledge base, forums or magazine, google, various "tech" tip posts, nothing seems to get my TB emails back once they have disappeared. (win2k SP4, TB 2.0.017).
I think my major problem with disappearing emails has been that I have not sufficiently compacted folders in the past. (They all disappeared on this occasion when I tried to "undelete" a deleted message in the drafts folder.
After hours & hours & hours I finally tracked down a utility called Google Mail Loader which enables you to use your email settings to upload all your emails from any mbox file to a Gmail account which you can then download back into Thunderbird. So just set up a temporary or permanent gmail account and you're set!
It has been my only salvation helping to recover disappeared, deleted and otherwise hidden or lost emails.
I hope this can help others. Shane
Thank you very much, Amber! Your instructions worked great.
Thanks so much for pasting up your troubleshooting problems. I just had problems with Thunderbird and I tired some of the other methods but i couldn't figure it out. Your instructions were simple and easy to follow...
Guess what, I did the same and killed my Thunderbird profile (swithing the power button off) hahaa.
Thanks Amber, this worked perfectly. Many thanks for your taking the time to offer help to the likes of me!
Amber, you're an angel! I had lost all my folders, and your fix worked perfectly for me. Good luck to you.
Mary from Brooklyn
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