Attachment location when emails are received
Hello, and thank you for your time. I need some help with attachments. I have been using TB for many years, was a Eudora refugee. But, while I've worked with computers from my time as a typesetter using mainframe systems before desktop, I'm not super technical.
I remember seeing a setting to delete attachments when the email is deleted, which I had not opted for. I can't find that now (and would like to opt for it).
I asked years ago about where attachments were stored when emails are received, and the answer at that time was that they were stored in a nonaccessible folder somehow (that I couldn't go into and empty). I have reason to think this may have changed. Is there actually a folder or some location now where attachments to emails are stored? How can I mass delete whatever attachments are brought in by Eudora?
I did just empty the TB cache, not even sure what would be in there but it was 1 GB worth.
Any illumination on this would be helpful. I find that random attachments to emails, such as those VCF files or other small things, actually somehow show up in my photo folders. I really don't want my system treating those things like valid photos. My general practice is that I immediately save an attachment to my system if I need to keep it. So in general, if there isn't a specific accessible folder in TB for attachments, I'd like to know how to tell TB to get rid of all that stuff.
Thank you for any insights.
--Victoria
Chosen solution
1. If you delete a message, the entire message body and attachments are deleted.
2. The FiltaQuilla add-on adds the option to detach or save attachments as a filter action, which could be applied to a folder. The version for TB 78 is fairly new, so all features should be tested.
3. Any attachment to a sent message is stored in the message. There used to be an add-on that would automatically delete attachments from sent messages, but now you would have to apply a filter as in 2.
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There's no separate location for the storage of attachments. Each message, including its attachments, is stored in an mbox file (excluding maildir storage, which is not the TB default), and there is an mbox file for every folder. The mbox files in the profile folder have no extension and have the same name as the folder shown in TB.
Attachments can be saved or detached (saved, then deleted from the message) to an external folder, or a message can be saved in eml format, including the attachments. Attachments don't appear in system or photos folders except through manual application, or possibly by means of message filters configured by the user. It appears you prefer to detach attachments, i.e. save them outside of TB, but delete them from the message to save space.
Thank you for your help. I understand that going forward, if I don't want TB to keep a copy of an attachment, I need to delete it from the message after saving the attachment elsewhere. Couple of followup questions:
1. Verify: Does this mean that if I delete a message, that any attachments still retained within TB will be automatically deleted as well?
2. Does this mean that, at this point, the only way for me to keep messages in my archives, but delete their attachments, is to go one-by-one to each message and delete the attachments? There is no way to do that in any kind of batches or by command on a folder or something?
I'm looking at 10+ years' worth of archived emails (mostly work emails that I do refer to on occasion so I prefer not to lose), so you can understand why I'm trying to find the most efficient solution. The trouble with archives is that if you don't understand all the implications from the beginning, you can wind up with huge problems eventually, and this is true regardless of the medium. So here I am.
3. If I send someone an email with an attachment (such as my resume), I have it set up so that my copy of the message is stored in the folder I replied from. It appears that attachments on my own emails are also being stored over and over again within TB. Is that true? If so, this means for the future going forward that TB requires a level of maintenance that I find daunting and dismaying.
Thanks for your help.
--Victoria
Chosen Solution
1. If you delete a message, the entire message body and attachments are deleted.
2. The FiltaQuilla add-on adds the option to detach or save attachments as a filter action, which could be applied to a folder. The version for TB 78 is fairly new, so all features should be tested.
3. Any attachment to a sent message is stored in the message. There used to be an add-on that would automatically delete attachments from sent messages, but now you would have to apply a filter as in 2.
Thank you very much for your help! I will test the filter add-on carefully before applying.