
Thunderbird deleted my "deleted" messages instead of putting them in a folder
I use Thunderbird under IMAP on a laptop running Vista. Recently I used Thunderbird on an older laptop running XP. There didn't seem to be any problems - I have done this before. However, when I returned to my original Vista laptop I found that I now had two folders called "deleted" but when I deleted a message from my inbox it didn't get sent to either of them. I then tried to delete the newer "deleted" folder but found that instead I had deleted the original one! This is annoying because it was full of messages which I would normally retain for 30 days.
My deleted messages are still not being sent to any folder. If I try selecting a different folder than "deleted" it doesn't send them there either.
How can I return to the status quo? And is there any way of recovering the original "deleted" folder and ensuring I remove the later one?
Chosen solution
DavidSorge said
IT pros tear there hair out over this kind of stuff. My guess is that Thunderbird on the XP computer created the "deleted" file you see on the Vista computer, more specifically, IMAP created it. When you opened TB on the Vista machine IMAP updated TB to reflect the changes you made on the XP machine. IMAP won't let you delete the folder because it's linked to XP's TB. And as you discovered the one created with Vista deleted with no problem. One of your computers is acting as the "administrator", or primary. The other is a client of sorts. when you set up IMAP from your computer the software made some assumptions. One that this ( Vista ) computer is the primary. Then you linked the other computer to the system. You synced up with the Vista machine. As far as the "Deleted" message goes, there two possibles. One it stayed right where it is and two it disappeared. If its still in your inbox then it most likely means that you, the Vista user, flagged it for deletion and all that's left is for the XP user, that would be you, to delete it. Remember, IMAP thinks there two users on this mail account. If it vanished then it's time for the hair removal. Have a friend send some emails to you with text in the body so you can tell them apart and do some experimenting. Nothing beats a good experiment. This is from Google; "The Differences between POP and IMAP. IMAP allows users to store their email on remote servers. This two-way protocol also allows the user to synchronize their email among multiple devices, which is extremely important today, when most people have at least two devices - their laptop and smartphone". IMAP, to reiterate, does not know you are on both devices. Put "POP vs IMAP" ( no quotes ) in Google. There are several links on the subject. By the way if you just put IMAP in the search box you will get a page of someone named Imap. Where you and I would ask which Imap do you mean, Google just brings the imap pages viewed the most. I'm saying all this, to say check your settings. If none of this helped, I'm sorry. Write in again and detail what you did and what happened. More is better. Good LuckRead this answer in context 👍 0
All Replies (8)
IT pros tear there hair out over this kind of stuff.
My guess is that Thunderbird on the XP computer created the "deleted" file you see on the Vista computer, more specifically, IMAP created it. When you opened TB on the Vista machine IMAP updated TB to reflect the changes you made on the XP machine. IMAP won't let you delete the folder because it's linked to XP's TB. And as you discovered the one created with Vista deleted with no problem. One of your computers is acting as the "administrator", or primary. The other is a client of sorts. when you set up IMAP from your computer the software made some assumptions. One that this ( Vista ) computer is the primary. Then you linked the other computer to the system. You synced up with the Vista machine. As far as the "Deleted" message goes, there two possibles. One it stayed right where it is and two it disappeared. If its still in your inbox then it most likely means that you, the Vista user, flagged it for deletion and all that's left is for the XP user, that would be you, to delete it. Remember, IMAP thinks there two users on this mail account. If it vanished then it's time for the hair removal. Have a friend send some emails to you with text in the body so you can tell them apart and do some experimenting. Nothing beats a good experiment. This is from Google; "The Differences between POP and IMAP. IMAP allows users to store their email on remote servers. This two-way protocol also allows the user to synchronize their email among multiple devices, which is extremely important today, when most people have at least two devices - their laptop and smartphone". IMAP, to reiterate, does not know you are on both devices. Put "POP vs IMAP" ( no quotes ) in Google. There are several links on the subject. By the way if you just put IMAP in the search box you will get a page of someone named Imap. Where you and I would ask which Imap do you mean, Google just brings the imap pages viewed the most. I'm saying all this, to say check your settings. If none of this helped, I'm sorry. Write in again and detail what you did and what happened. More is better. Good Luck
On my computer the text string is one line with a scroll bar. I don't know why Mozilla does that. It might be me. Select all, copy, and paste it into a text reader.
Hi David, Thanks for trying to answer this.
The only way I can now get a message to go from my Inbox on the Vista machine into what I now have as my "deleted" folder (presumably created on the XP machine) is to click on the "message" menu and then "move to".
I can understand what happened to the original "deleted" folder but what I don't understand is that Thunderbird on the Vista will no longer send deleted messages where I tell it to send them, regardless of which folder I choose. That function just doesn't seem to work any more! Any suggestions? If it worked I could just adopt the new deleted folder and put deleted messages there.
cheers,
Sue
Just a thought. When I click on "advanced account settings" under "server settings", the box for "IMAP server directory" is blank. Could I try changing that perhaps, and if so what to? Sue
Chosen Solution
DavidSorge said
IT pros tear there hair out over this kind of stuff. My guess is that Thunderbird on the XP computer created the "deleted" file you see on the Vista computer, more specifically, IMAP created it. When you opened TB on the Vista machine IMAP updated TB to reflect the changes you made on the XP machine. IMAP won't let you delete the folder because it's linked to XP's TB. And as you discovered the one created with Vista deleted with no problem. One of your computers is acting as the "administrator", or primary. The other is a client of sorts. when you set up IMAP from your computer the software made some assumptions. One that this ( Vista ) computer is the primary. Then you linked the other computer to the system. You synced up with the Vista machine. As far as the "Deleted" message goes, there two possibles. One it stayed right where it is and two it disappeared. If its still in your inbox then it most likely means that you, the Vista user, flagged it for deletion and all that's left is for the XP user, that would be you, to delete it. Remember, IMAP thinks there two users on this mail account. If it vanished then it's time for the hair removal. Have a friend send some emails to you with text in the body so you can tell them apart and do some experimenting. Nothing beats a good experiment. This is from Google; "The Differences between POP and IMAP. IMAP allows users to store their email on remote servers. This two-way protocol also allows the user to synchronize their email among multiple devices, which is extremely important today, when most people have at least two devices - their laptop and smartphone". IMAP, to reiterate, does not know you are on both devices. Put "POP vs IMAP" ( no quotes ) in Google. There are several links on the subject. By the way if you just put IMAP in the search box you will get a page of someone named Imap. Where you and I would ask which Imap do you mean, Google just brings the imap pages viewed the most. I'm saying all this, to say check your settings. If none of this helped, I'm sorry. Write in again and detail what you did and what happened. More is better. Good Luck
Update: I have finally got it working again, by messing about with Tools>Account Settings > Server Settings, changing the "when I delete a message" setting to "mark it as deleted", then closing TB and reopening it, then changing the setting again to move messages to "deleted" folder. At last messages are going into the "deleted" folder again and a little wastebin icon has come up on it, so TB seems to have finally sorted itself out. But it has all been a huge waste of time! Thanks to those who posted comments. Sue
Sue;
I just got to your message. I see that you have found the answer. If you detail it as a teacher would at the blackboard, and post it back here you will not have wasted your time. This problem confronts many users who are accessing there mail from different devices, and that number is growing. By giving back to the community, Karma will find you on the highway. It will also solidify your understanding in your own mind, and perhaps led you to an even more elegant solution. To teach, you really have to understand your subject. As you hammer out the details you'll see what I mean. By the way, what happens when you throw the XP machine into the mix?
Modified
Thanks David, I do hope my experience is helpful for other users. I don't yet know what will happen if/when I use the XP laptop again, as it is in a different country! What seemed to cure the problem was switching from directing my deleted messages to the "deleted" folder to just marking them as deleted, i.e. they appear as crossed-through in my inbox. That worked. Then I closed TB, launched it again, and changed back from marking them as deleted to sending them to a folder. I had to do this a few times though, trying different folders as the destination. Finally it worked with the folder I wanted. But it is possible that TB just needed a few days to revert back to a previous setting, without my intervention. The fact that the "wastebin" icon disappeared and then reappeared seems to be significant.