A *.wdseml file is a partial copy (up to 20kb) of a message in the mail folder, stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by Windows Search Integration (requires Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8). They're actually renamed .eml files. You can disable this feature by unchecking Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> System Integration -> "Allow Windows Search to search messages". Close Thunderbird and delete the .mozmsgs subdirectories in your profile. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird

Thanks very much for taking the time to help me. I need a little more help. I was able to disable the feature you mentioned. I then went to my profile. However, I do not see any .mozmsgs sub-directories there. Maybe they are hidden and I have to do something else, but I don't know. There are probably about 50 files there, with a wide variety of extensions. I have enabled "Show hidden files and folders". Can you help me locate the .mozmsgs sub-directories in my profile? I did a search on my computer for" .mozmsgs" and came up with a lengthy list of emails. I compared those lengthy strange file names with the list of emails in question that are showing in my junk folder. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to match (all I compared were the first few numbers/letters in each file name. Maybe they match if I look further.) Again, thank you very much.

Do you see any *.wdseml files in your profile? Also look underneath 'Junk'.

Thanks again. I do not see any *.wdseml files in my profile. The entire message pane is a mess, let me describe it to you. Immediately under the first inbox are all of the crazy entries. I can hide them by clicking the small arrow pointing to the inbox. These are 95% *.wdseml files. Now, for the first time, I also have one of these entries under "drafts," maybe as a result of a change I made earlier today. Then I have Sent and Archives and Junk, which are OK. Then I have another Trash which has numerous of those strange *.wdseml files. To a large extent they seem to duplicate the *.wdseml files above. Some I can not delete at all. Others I can delete but they come back. Then I finally get to my Local Folders, which I use all the time. They are OK, but I have to wade through a lot to get there. I attached a screenshot from a few days ago. I am not sure it is still relevant. I really appreciate this. I am on top of it even if I do not reply immediately. Thanks.

Can you verify your profile location? Help (Alt-H) - Troubleshooting Information - Profile Folder - Open Folder

Is this the same profile you checked before?

Thanks very much for staying on this with me. I have three profiles on the screen right now. Two I found by searching in the Start tab, using %APPDATA% and then going from there. Two profiles are shown, whereas yesterday there was only one there, I believe. Both of these profiles appear to be the same, but no *.wdseml files . The third profile came up this morning after following your instructions. It is the same, but again no *.wdseml files.

Here is the location of one of the rogue emails I am trying to delete. I copied it from the properties of the particular email:

mailbox:///C:/Users/eric/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/oni0lh5p.default/Mail/pop3.centurytel.net/Inbox.mozmsgs/!%26!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAH3o5Nn57EJKmy4uQMew9J945a808d

When I open it I get three Thunderbird docs, as follows: C:\Users\eric\Documents\trashemails\5422CD90.7040103%40centurytel.net.wdseml C:\Users\eric\Documents\trashemails\5399AF3B.6050605%40centurytel.net.wdseml C:\Users\eric\Documents\trashemails\50958123.10700%40centurytel.net.wdseml

I hope some of this helps. Please let me know what other information you may need. Thanks

if I can't fix this problem directly, can I just uninstall TB and then reinstall it? I would like to save all existing emails, however. Thanks.

That wasn't exactly the information I was looking for. Can you navigate to your profile folder Thunderbird actually uses via Troubleshooting Information as described above? Please post the exact path including the profile folder.

What other profiles do you see (with the exact path)?

There shouldn't be multiple profiles in the first place, unless you created them. This may be part of the problem.

What's important is to determine which profile you actually use when you start Thunderbird.

OK. Sorry about that. Thanks for your patience. This is the path using Troubleshooting Information:

C:\Users\eric\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\oni0lh5p.default

This is the only profile listed using this path. There are a number of subfolders listed under the profile folder.

Thanks.

Good, this confirms the *.wdseml do exist in your actual profile.

At an earlier stage we were talking about deleting .mozmsgs subdirectories. You stated:

I do not see any .mozmsgs sub-directories

Yet you posted the following above:

mailbox:///C:/Users/eric/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/oni0lh5p.default/Mail/pop3.centurytel.net/Inbox.mozmsgs/...

Do you see a folder 'Inbox.mozmsgs' underneath C:/Users/eric/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/oni0lh5p.default/Mail/pop3.centurytel.net?

Yep, there is a folder 'Inbox.mozmsgs' underneath C:/Users/eric/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/oni0lh5p.default/Mail/pop3.centurytel.net. I open it and the contents look very similar to those in my inbox, although they don't seem to match up identically.

Close Thunderbird and delete C:\Users\eric\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\oni0lh5p.default\Mail\pop3.centurytel.net\Inbox.mozmsgs.

Done. I then restarted TB. I hope this is not a problem. All of the offending files are gone. This is excellent. It is easier to use and not as cluttered. It appears that a lot of the mail in my inbox has disappeared. I have all of the ones from the last two days but numerous emails from before that are missing. Can we do something about this? Regardless, thanks very much.

Is there a place I can look for the mail that was deleted from my inbox? I have some important emails that I would like to recover, if possible. There are plenty of possible files I could start opening but I know it would be better if I wait to hear from you. Thanks.

Removing the Inbox.mozmsgs folder wouldn't cause any messages to disappear. So there must have been another issue, possibly some sort of folder corruption. Were those missing messages in Inbox before? I suppose you did restart Thunderbird since? Try to rebuild the index file of the troubled folder, e.g. Inbox. Right-click the folder - Properties - Repair Folder

I'm going to mark this as solved because you did solve it, and I thank you very much for your help. The missing messages were in the inbox before. I'm lazy about reading and deleting or fling them. There were literally hundreds there that are now gone. I tried the repair folder suggestion but that didn't work. You've put in more than enough time on this so I don't want to trouble you any more. if you have any ideas where I might look, I'll pursue it. They aren't in trash, I checked. Under properties for pop3.centurytel.net, which I deleted, it shows 7,570 Files, 75 Folders. If each file is an email, I don't have nearly that many showing. I checked the "view" settings to make sure nothing was hidden and I think I'm OK there. I may snoop around but I won't make any big moves. I'm content with the way things are. Thank you very much.

pop3.centurytel.net, which I deleted

You were supposed to delete Inbox.mozmsgs underneath pop3.centurytel.net, not pop3.centurytel.net itself.

When you asked me to delete C:\Users\eric\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\oni0lh5p.default\Mail\pop3.centurytel.net\Inbox.mozmsgs., pop3.centurytel.net went along with it. Sorry for this misunderstanding. Is there any way to fix it so I can recover the lost emails? Thanks.

Do you still have the deleted folder in Trash? This would be the Windows Trash, not Thunderbird. Otherwise, do you have a backup of your profile from prior to deleting the folder?

In Windows trash I have inbox.mozmsgs This is the only related file there. I did not make a back up per se, but I have Carbonite which backs up nearly everything and may have this. I also use Google + auto back up.