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unwanted change - undo delete message doesn't bring it back

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 34 views
  • Last reply by gingerbooth

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A recent change in Thunderbird made a very unwelcome new behavior.

When I delete an email it goes to Trash. When I undo that delete, it used to undelete, and restore the email to the folder I'm working in.

I really want that behavior back. I don't want to undelete - go to Trash folder - manually restore to Inbox. Or likewise any operation that moves a message to another folder. If I undo that operation, I want the email back where it was before.

A recent change in Thunderbird made a very unwelcome new behavior. When I delete an email it goes to Trash. When I undo that delete, it used to undelete, and restore the email to the folder I'm working in. I really want that behavior back. I don't want to undelete - go to Trash folder - manually restore to Inbox. Or likewise any operation that moves a message to another folder. If I undo that operation, I want the email back where it was before.

Chosen solution

If it works properly in safe mode, you probably have either an incompatible add-on or the layout was broken (other possibilities revealed by safe mode are less likely). If you find it's not an add-on, you can fix the layout by launching in safe mode, checking 'Reset toolbars and controls', and clicking 'Make changes and restart'. That will restore a 'default' layout in normal mode which you can modify as below.

Select View/Toolbars/Customize and drag buttons to and from the Mail Toolbar and drag and drop them in the desired position.

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I tried this on a few accounts in TB 60.3.1, and each time Edit/Undo (Ctrl+Z) restored the deleted message. It's either instant or takes a few seconds, depending on the service (all tests done with IMAP accounts with IMAP Trash or Deleted).

Is this happening with a Gmail account? Gmail has some quirks as far as deleting, marking as deleted, etc.

Does the same thing happen in safe mode? Hold Shift when you launch TB.

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Thank you, sfhowes!

This is POP mail from my own server. No remote folders involved.

I hadn't tried safe mode. Yes, that fixes it. But a bunch of buttons are missing across the top - Reply, Delete, etc.

Maybe I added them as customizations a decade ago or something.

Modified by gingerbooth

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Chosen Solution

If it works properly in safe mode, you probably have either an incompatible add-on or the layout was broken (other possibilities revealed by safe mode are less likely). If you find it's not an add-on, you can fix the layout by launching in safe mode, checking 'Reset toolbars and controls', and clicking 'Make changes and restart'. That will restore a 'default' layout in normal mode which you can modify as below.

Select View/Toolbars/Customize and drag buttons to and from the Mail Toolbar and drag and drop them in the desired position.

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Got it! Thank you so much, sfhowes!

That really was annoying...

I'm not sure what fixed it. I think (90% sure) it was the very first trip through safe mode that unglued the bug.

But I also removed some incompatible add-ons I'd forgotten about years ago. And after the first Safe mode visit, the button mismatch seemed to go away between normal and safe.

Anyway - fixed! :) Thank you!