Files in ImapMail change even if there are no new emails
I have several accounts in my Thunderbird, and each of them has several folders. I frequently backup them, by synchronising the whole profile folder in different disks over the network or external hard drives. While doing this, I noticed that almost all the files in the ImapMail folder (which, as far as I understand, contains two files for each folder) are detected as changed, even if I did not receive any new email in most of those folders. This obviously slows down the copy, and forces me to copy several hundreds GBs even I received only a few new emails (in very specific folders). Each folder has a small file (the ".msf" one) and a big/huge one (the one without extension); it is not a big deal if the small files change (for instance to keep track of some metadata), but it is a huge problem for me if the big ones do that even if there are no new emails in that folder.
Is there a way to tell Thunderbird to change those files only if I received new emails in the folders they refer to?
btw, why do those files without extension change if there are no new emails? (this seems like a bug)
Thanks
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P.S. it is a follow up from a previous question (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1396003).
Modified by pdanilo
All Replies (5)
Was my question not clear enough? Do you need further information to answer?
Thanks
Your question was clear enough. Thunderbird opens and closes files to mark status of each. No, it's not likely to change. And, no, there is no way to specify to not do that.
Thank you for your reply.
I should probably clarify a point.
The problem is not that the file was opened (and so some metadata changed), the problem is that the content of the file changed (even if there were no new emails in that folder). That is why my system copies it again. That is the reason I thought it was a bug.
It is fine with me (and I can also understand why) that Thunderbird opens those files without any extension, my point is that it should not change their content (or, at least, I do not see why it should change their content).
Assuming that this behaviour will not be changed in the near future, is it possible to store emails in different files instead of a huge file for the whole folder? And would that solve my problem? (I assume old emails won't be changed, but I am not sure about that)
pdanilo said
Thank you for your reply. I should probably clarify a point. The problem is not that the file was opened (and so some metadata changed), the problem is that the content of the file changed (even if there were no new emails in that folder). That is why my system copies it again. That is the reason I thought it was a bug. It is fine with me (and I can also understand why) that Thunderbird opens those files without any extension, my point is that it should not change their content (or, at least, I do not see why it should change their content).
Assuming that this behaviour will not be changed in the near future, is it possible to store emails in different files instead of a huge file for the whole folder? And would that solve my problem? (I assume old emails won't be changed, but I am not sure about that)
This discussion can continue for as long as you like, but the bottom line is nothing is going to change in the near future.
You might want to look at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/maildir-thunderbird which I wrote back on 2015. The status of maildir is largely the same now as it was then. If you want to offer suggestions or feedback you can do it at this site. https://connect.mozilla.org/
@Matt I do not why you are replying so aggressively (I hope I you haven't felt offended by anything I have written) since I was only trying to:
1. report a (IMHO weird) behaviour I noticed in the software 2. learn more about how the software works and the reasons behind some design choices
And (AFAIK) both these things are the base of any open-source software/community.
I will leave here my (still unanswered) questions, if someone in the future will have time to kindly reply to them:
A. Why Thunderbird modifies (the actual content of) folder files even if no new emails arrived in those folders?
A.i. Is this a bug? (and should be reported anywhere?)
B. Is it possible to store emails (in Thunderbird) in different files instead of a huge file for the whole folder?
B.i. Would this solve the problem of modified files?
Modified by pdanilo