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I want to move emails out to ordinary file folders, but when I drag-and-drop them, the "date modified" gets changed. How can I still see the original date?

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  • Last reply by sfhowes

Netwon
Netwon
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To archive my email files up until I decided to move to Thunderbird, I create ordinary file folders in windows, and drag and drop the emails from outlook express into the appropriate folders. The "date modified" column shows the original date of the email...which is what I want to do with Thunderbird. I find it treats it as a new file created today...which is not good for my archive system of these professional work files that I need to often find by approximate date.

I understand from the forum that this is the default in Thunderbird. Is there an add-on which can accomplish what I am trying to do?

Thank you in advance, Netwon

To archive my email files up until I decided to move to Thunderbird, I create ordinary file folders in windows, and drag and drop the emails from outlook express into the appropriate folders. The "date modified" column shows the original date of the email...which is what I want to do with Thunderbird. I find it treats it as a new file created today...which is not good for my archive system of these professional work files that I need to often find by approximate date. I understand from the forum that this is the default in Thunderbird. Is there an add-on which can accomplish what I am trying to do? Thank you in advance, Netwon

Chosen solution

I think the reason OE shows the original date is because each message is stored as a single file, whereas TB stores all messages in a folder in one file, an mbox file. So, when you save a message as a single eml file, its 'date modified' is the date the eml file was first written from the mbox file.

You may find the ImportExportTools add-on useful as it lets you add the date of the email to the eml file name when the email is exported ('Save selected messages' from the message(s) right-click menu).

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sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

I think the reason OE shows the original date is because each message is stored as a single file, whereas TB stores all messages in a folder in one file, an mbox file. So, when you save a message as a single eml file, its 'date modified' is the date the eml file was first written from the mbox file.

You may find the ImportExportTools add-on useful as it lets you add the date of the email to the eml file name when the email is exported ('Save selected messages' from the message(s) right-click menu).