re: and in any case always results in .EML files (etc.) having 0 size. Are you using 'Maildir' ? Thunderbird by default uses mbox files so you would not see .eml files.

re: to a local folder Do you mean a folder in your 'Local Folders' mail account ? OR a local folder on your computer and not in Thunderbird 'Local Folders' mail account?

re :Also the accounts keep asking me for my password (which no longer works because the accounts are no longer active) despite having Unchecked "Check for new messages very xx minutes", "Check for new messages at startup" and "Automatically sync all folders" - Why? How can I stop them trying to connect? - Again this is a bug!

You mention: Unchecked "Automatically sync all folders" by which I presume you mean unchecked 'allow immediate server notifications when new messages arrive'.

It could be an auto an idle set up so it's the server trying to connect.

Toad-Hall

Thank you for your reply.

Sorry the .eml was only relevant to trying to use the "ImportExportTools NG" Addon. I have contacted their support separately.

The emails are in .msf and sqlite files - I use the "ExQuilla for Microsoft Exchange" Add-On to communicate with Exchange Servers.

Yes, I want to Archive the Emails to my "Local Folders" in Thunderbird so that I can then Remove the Account from Thunderbird. This works okay if an Account is active and Thunderbird can communicate with the Server, but does nothing without the communication (i.e. for my no longer active Accounts)!

For the Exchange Accounts the settings I have unchecked are:

 Check for new messages at startup
 Check for new messages every xx minutes
 Automatically sync all folders

For an IMAP account the first two settings are the same, but for the last there is this instead:

 Allow immediate server notifications when message arrives

If it is the server trying to connect, then this surely should not be happening for an inactive account (or one that has been deleted)? Also if you have forgotten the password, etc. it should not keep asking for it repeatedly, but (with the above Unchecked) only when you specifically click on "Get messages". In my case it seems to be asking repeatedly for no apparent reason and also when I click on a Folder from the inactive accounts.

Thanks Henry

Thanks

re :The emails are in .msf

There are no emails stored in index (.msf) files.

Index files are used by thunderbird to point to where the actual email is stored so you can view it. They contain some header information and a small section of email, but not full emails.

Fully downloaded emails are stored in mbox files. These files are text files with no extension. They are stored in the same location as the .msf files of same name.

If you do not have mbox files then you did not fully download copies of emails.

It sounds as if you have not selected to keep messages in all folders for this account on your computer and not synchronised all folders for offline use to download full copies. This would be set up under Account Settings > Synchronisation & Storage for the imap account.

re :This works okay if an Account is active and Thunderbird can communicate with the Server, If emails are not fully downloaded, then they are downloaded from server to a temp folder on your computer when you select the email in the list to facilitating viewing. Thus you can then choose to save a copy in Local Folders mail account.

global-messages-db.sqlite is created to facilitate Global Search, but it does not contain emails. You can typically perform a search and get results, but then find you cannot open the email to see full contents.

Selected emails in thread Pane can be saved as .eml files to a location on your computer outside of Thunderbird. This can be done individually by default within Thunderbird or use addon ImportExportTools NG to export several. But these .eml files are created from the mbox file that actually stores the emails. This may explain why you get .eml files of zero size. Test: Right click on individual email and select 'Save as' Choose where to save it. It should get saved as an .eml file. If size is zero and you cannot open it and see full email contents, then email is not stored in Thunderbird.

I have an idea you need to check out. In profile folders for the account, do you see any *.mozmsgs folders ? If you had Windows search enabled and used it then these folders would have been created. Within the .mozmsgs folder there will be .wdseml files. Each file is a partial copy (up to 49KB) of a message in the mail folder. AS many emails may be less than 49KB, it is possible you could fully retrieve those emails or get most of others back.

Exit Thunderbird. Access Profile Copy a .mozmsg folder to desktop. Open the copied .mozmsg folder. Rename each .wdseml file extension to say .eml

Those .eml files can now be imported back into Thunderbird Local Folders using the ImportExportTools NG addon.

Toad-Hall

Thank you for replying and sorry for the delay.

In my AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ExQuilla\outlook.office365-1.com Folder for instance are the following file types:

no extension - with most/all having 0 size
.msf
.sqlite
subfolders with extension .sbd

Similarly in my AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ImapMail\* Folders I have

no extension - some being very large
.msf - quite small
subfolders with extension .sbd

I cannot find any *.mozmsgs folders or *.wdseml files!

I think you have hit the nail on the head!

I can see the Emails in the list, but not contents (even if only say 22 kbytes in size). So I guess I must just have the headers locally!?! - Where available in the "Synchronisation & Storage" settings I have "Don't download messages larger than xx kB" unticked. Also I have "Keep messages in all folder for this account on this computer". So everything should be downloaded. But some of my Exchange accounts do not even have the "Synchronisation & Storage" settings available!

Is there some way of saving the Headers at least for the messages I have to my local Archive Folders?

Thanks Henry

Hi I have Exquilla with MS Exchange, so I can confirm some of what you have discussed. All the email folders in the Exquilla file structure will show 0 size files for the mbox file, and some data in the .msf index file. You are right that you have only the message headers there, and not the message body - which would be downloaded when accessed from Thunderbird but not stored permanently. If you can no longer access the server, the message body can't be opened or viewed or moved or saved now. It would have been possible to move those messages to a local file structure within Mozilla Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxx.default\Mail\[foldername] - for example Mozilla Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders. Within those folders the sub-folders look like files with no extension, with an index file for each with the same name but ending in .msf. So to your case - the large files with no extension in \ImapMail subfolders may be a hopeful sign. However - you should be able to see them from within Thunderbird somewhere. Pick a subfolder that you can see exists in ImapMail and see if you can find it in Thunderbird. That may help you define which messages really are out of reach and which you do still have locally.

To why you get prompted for password - that would happen if you try to access a message (that exists on the server not locally) by clicking on it. I can't say why it also seems to happen by itself.

I hope that will be of some use. Over to Toad-Hall. Agnes