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New POP3 mail is delivering into a nested 'Archives/Inbox' folder instead of the account's real Inbox, and both folders appear to be flagged as special Inbox folders (neither can be renamed) — where is this flag stored and how can it be safely reassigned?

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ivan.lichner
ivan.lichner

Title: POP3 mail delivering into Archives/Inbox instead of real Inbox — folder appears mis-flagged as special Inbox

Thunderbird version: 152.0.1 (Windows 11)

Problem: After migrating my profile to a new computer (copying the profile folder and profiles.ini, both with relative paths), new mail for a POP3 account (server1, account1) is being delivered into a nested folder "Archives/Inbox" instead of the account's real top-level "Inbox".

Evidence gathered so far: - Real Inbox: mailbox://ABC@savba.savba.sk/Inbox — only 1 message, effectively untouched for weeks - Archives/Inbox: mailbox://ABC@savba.savba.sk/Archives/Inbox — 31,186 messages, 10.9 GB, actively receiving new mail (confirmed with a test send) - Both folders display the same "special Inbox" folder icon in the folder pane - Neither folder can be renamed (rename option greyed out on both) — normally only true special folders are rename-locked - Account Settings shows only 3 legitimate accounts (POP3 savba.sk, IMAP Yahoo, Local Folders) — no hidden/orphaned account pointing at Archives - No message filter is causing this (only active filter is an unrelated SpamAssassin rule) - Identity's archive_folder pref is set to .../Archives (not .../Archives/Inbox), so this isn't the manual-archive-target setting either - Checked prefs.js directly: no mail.server.server1.* pref names an explicit "Inbox" folder path, so the special-folder designation doesn't appear to live in prefs.js - Renamed folderCache.json to force a rebuild — did not fix delivery, and also temporarily broke the Send button in compose windows (fixed by restoring the original file) - Ran "Repair Folder" on Archives/Inbox — only rebuilt the message index (.msf); did not change where new mail is delivered

Current hypothesis: The special-folder (Inbox) flag seems to be stored per-folder (likely inside each folder's own .msf index or an internal DB row) rather than in prefs.js or folderCache.json — which would explain why neither cache rebuild nor folder repair touched it. Two folders under the same account appear to carry this flag simultaneously.

Questions: 1. Where exactly is the special-folder (Inbox) designation stored, if not in prefs.js or folderCache.json? 2. Is there a supported way to clear/reassign this flag from a specific folder via the UI or Config Editor? 3. Could deleting just that one folder's .msf file (Thunderbird closed) force it to regenerate without the incorrect flag, without affecting the 31,186 messages in the mbox file itself? Is this safe?

Happy to provide further logs or additional prefs.js excerpts (redacted) if useful.

Thanks in advance.

Title: POP3 mail delivering into Archives/Inbox instead of real Inbox — folder appears mis-flagged as special Inbox Thunderbird version: 152.0.1 (Windows 11) Problem: After migrating my profile to a new computer (copying the profile folder and profiles.ini, both with relative paths), new mail for a POP3 account (server1, account1) is being delivered into a nested folder "Archives/Inbox" instead of the account's real top-level "Inbox". Evidence gathered so far: - Real Inbox: mailbox://ABC@savba.savba.sk/Inbox — only 1 message, effectively untouched for weeks - Archives/Inbox: mailbox://ABC@savba.savba.sk/Archives/Inbox — 31,186 messages, 10.9 GB, actively receiving new mail (confirmed with a test send) - Both folders display the same "special Inbox" folder icon in the folder pane - Neither folder can be renamed (rename option greyed out on both) — normally only true special folders are rename-locked - Account Settings shows only 3 legitimate accounts (POP3 savba.sk, IMAP Yahoo, Local Folders) — no hidden/orphaned account pointing at Archives - No message filter is causing this (only active filter is an unrelated SpamAssassin rule) - Identity's archive_folder pref is set to .../Archives (not .../Archives/Inbox), so this isn't the manual-archive-target setting either - Checked prefs.js directly: no mail.server.server1.* pref names an explicit "Inbox" folder path, so the special-folder designation doesn't appear to live in prefs.js - Renamed folderCache.json to force a rebuild — did not fix delivery, and also temporarily broke the Send button in compose windows (fixed by restoring the original file) - Ran "Repair Folder" on Archives/Inbox — only rebuilt the message index (.msf); did not change where new mail is delivered Current hypothesis: The special-folder (Inbox) flag seems to be stored per-folder (likely inside each folder's own .msf index or an internal DB row) rather than in prefs.js or folderCache.json — which would explain why neither cache rebuild nor folder repair touched it. Two folders under the same account appear to carry this flag simultaneously. Questions: 1. Where exactly is the special-folder (Inbox) designation stored, if not in prefs.js or folderCache.json? 2. Is there a supported way to clear/reassign this flag from a specific folder via the UI or Config Editor? 3. Could deleting just that one folder's .msf file (Thunderbird closed) force it to regenerate without the incorrect flag, without affecting the 31,186 messages in the mbox file itself? Is this safe? Happy to provide further logs or additional prefs.js excerpts (redacted) if useful. Thanks in advance.

Modified by ivan.lichner

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