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Thunderbird hangs repeatedly when opening a specific messge

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by ahbodge26

ahbodge26
ahbodge26
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Thunderbird 115.12.1 running on Windows 11 in S mode. Working fine for several months, until today my wife clicked on a particular message, then Thunderbird hung, displaying a tab with "Loading" and the path to the inbox and message, and not responding to any user actions. Killing Thunderbird and restarting results in the same situation. Thunderbird is trying to start up where it was when it was killed. It appears that something in the message causes this problem. I have tried the following:

  • Tried to clear the startup cache, which I am able to access by bringing up the "Write new message" window. However this action starts the main Thunderbird window, which immediately hangs. Also tried starting in Troubleshooting mode, with the same result.
  • I tried to navigate to the Inbox in Explorer, hoping to delete the offending message. But under AppData/Roaming, I saw only two folders (Adobe and Microsoft), but no Thunderbird folder. I made sure to unhide hidden files in the Roaming folder, but it did not help. I also tried this as the user (me) who set up the system and is presumably more privileged but that did not help. I am not knowledgeable enough about Windows 11 security to know how to overcome this. It seems like some kind of super-hiding that only Thunderbird can get through ??

I can try deinstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird but would like to get some thoughts on this before I go that route.

Thanks

Thunderbird 115.12.1 running on Windows 11 in S mode. Working fine for several months, until today my wife clicked on a particular message, then Thunderbird hung, displaying a tab with "Loading" and the path to the inbox and message, and not responding to any user actions. Killing Thunderbird and restarting results in the same situation. Thunderbird is trying to start up where it was when it was killed. It appears that something in the message causes this problem. I have tried the following: * Tried to clear the startup cache, which I am able to access by bringing up the "Write new message" window. However this action starts the main Thunderbird window, which immediately hangs. Also tried starting in Troubleshooting mode, with the same result. * I tried to navigate to the Inbox in Explorer, hoping to delete the offending message. But under AppData/Roaming, I saw only two folders (Adobe and Microsoft), but no Thunderbird folder. I made sure to unhide hidden files in the Roaming folder, but it did not help. I also tried this as the user (me) who set up the system and is presumably more privileged but that did not help. I am not knowledgeable enough about Windows 11 security to know how to overcome this. It seems like some kind of super-hiding that only Thunderbird can get through ?? I can try deinstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird but would like to get some thoughts on this before I go that route. Thanks

Chosen solution

I seem to have stumbled onto a solution. I started the profile manager and saw two profiles: "default-release" (the active one) and "default", which was not set up. I set it up on my wife's email and started Thunderbird, which worked fine. I was then able to use the Import tool to associate the new profile with the existing mail storage, address book etc. So far, so good, wife happy. Don't know why it worked but it did.

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Wayne Mery
Wayne Mery
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Clearing crash rarely helps. Ditto reinstalling.

Is it only this message that causing a problem?

ahbodge26
ahbodge26 Question owner
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Thanks Wayne. I get the same display every time I try to start Thunderbird, and it seems to identify one message. (Image attached.) If I am quick enough, I can close the tab before Thunderbird becomes unresponsive but it still hangs.

I tried running Explorer as Administrator, but it still does not list Thunderbird under AppData/Roaming. I don't know any other tricks to try.

ahbodge26
ahbodge26 Question owner
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Chosen Solution

I seem to have stumbled onto a solution. I started the profile manager and saw two profiles: "default-release" (the active one) and "default", which was not set up. I set it up on my wife's email and started Thunderbird, which worked fine. I was then able to use the Import tool to associate the new profile with the existing mail storage, address book etc. So far, so good, wife happy. Don't know why it worked but it did.