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I restored some deleted messages from Trash, but they all don't show up in the original folder.

  • 3 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by Mehsab

Mehsab
Mehsab
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I accidentally set the retention policy to 30 days for the wrong folder which deleted over 1000 messages. I found the messages in the Trash and moved them back to the original folder, but they all didn't show up. I immediately made a copy of the folder file in my profile, and if I examine that file, I can see the missing messages. I've tried rebuilding the associated .msf file and deleting the .msf file, but the messages do not show up. How can I restore access to these messages in Thunderbird? Will rebuilding the Global Data index fix this?

I accidentally set the retention policy to 30 days for the wrong folder which deleted over 1000 messages. I found the messages in the Trash and moved them back to the original folder, but they all didn't show up. I immediately made a copy of the folder file in my profile, and if I examine that file, I can see the missing messages. I've tried rebuilding the associated .msf file and deleting the .msf file, but the messages do not show up. How can I restore access to these messages in Thunderbird? Will rebuilding the Global Data index fix this?

Chosen solution

If anyone is interested, I was able to restore the missing files by editing the X-Mozilla-Status codes in the folder file. The 0x0008 bit flags each deleted message. I was able to do a global find/replace for every code containing this bit in Notepad to get Thunderbird to re-index the deleted messages. Of course, you'll want to do this on a copy of the affected folder file and keep a backup while you're making the changes, just in case. Oh, and DON'T compact your messages until you make sure this has worked.

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All Replies (3)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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I found the messages in the Trash and moved them back to the original folder

Is the 'original folder' a local one or on an IMAP server?

Mehsab
Mehsab Question owner
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These are local folders. If I open the folder file using Notepad I can see the missing messages. I'm looking for a way to re-index this folder so that I can see all of the messages in Thunderbird again.

Mehsab
Mehsab Question owner
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Chosen Solution

If anyone is interested, I was able to restore the missing files by editing the X-Mozilla-Status codes in the folder file. The 0x0008 bit flags each deleted message. I was able to do a global find/replace for every code containing this bit in Notepad to get Thunderbird to re-index the deleted messages. Of course, you'll want to do this on a copy of the affected folder file and keep a backup while you're making the changes, just in case. Oh, and DON'T compact your messages until you make sure this has worked.