possible alternative to mbox storage (preferably single emails)?

okay, now i understand more. can't afford to be a beta-test case at this point. maildir format is not one single block file? this query came out of a virus scanner reporting something in the mbox that i could not identify..

Thanks for your help!

I have been using maildir for over a year and haven't had any problems with it. I too was uneasy at the use of a monolithic file store.

However, your messages are stored with cryptic filenames, and those filenames have no extension. So searching in your file manager for a given message by subject or filename won't work. The lack of a filename extension means that is hard to set up searches since they don't have a discernible file type. And bear in mind that many of your messages will not be in plain text (e.g. base64 or mime encoded) and so are not searchable.

I think it still would be useful in the case of a virus scanner detecting malware. But some of the traditional claimed advantages of maildir, such as treating each message as a file simply don't hold up when the message content is anything other than plain text, and when the filenames are unhelpful.

thanks for your reply. i'll try to recall how i got where ended up, before shelving it and asking for help. i 'd forgotten i did try maildir. i used import export tools.xpi and created a new profile using maildir, which appeared to save everything with .sbd.

i don't recall creating a 3rd profile, i get the impression thunderbird did, i ended up with folders, each containing an html index of the contents of the messages folder - all in plain text legible emails and clickable from the index.

So this may be useful for you as long as you don't repeat whatever error made double copies of everything (probably my own inept fumbling)

You don't need to use maildir to have Mac search your emails. Thunderbird supports spotlight at preferences > advanced > general

Having said that, I've never used it. And I doubt it is perfect https://mzl.la/2s6vcUp