HELP I have asked for help with this problem and no one seems to know
I made a folder and called it April. One day the folder just disappeared. No one seems to help me recover the folder and i need it. Once I moved emails into that folder they are no longer available in my inbox. SO if you know how to recover my folder help, or if you know how to recover emails that were sent to a folder, that would work also. I use Windows 11 and I have the most recent release of Thunderbird. I use Charter.net as my isp which is pop. Thanks,Charles
Chosen Solution
The only screen image that might be helpful for us now is one of the contents of trash.sbd.
We are not interested in .msf files.
What is more important now is to do two things in Thunderbird:
- Look at my first screen image as a model for you. See the ">" next to the Archive folder. Do you have ">" next to your Archive folder? If so, click it. You will see sub-folders of the Archive folder. Is April there?
- See my second screen image as a model for you. Right click on your account name in the folder pane (in my example "radios@charter.net"). In the drop-down list box that appears, click on "Subscribe". Look through the list of folders. Is April there? If so, check the checkbox next to April.
All Replies (35)
Under ImapMail , then mobile.charter.net, I found April.msf. But I do not know how to open it. I tried using notebook but all I get is html or code. Maybe we are getting close? Charles
April.msf does not contain messages. The existence of two .msf files (that do not contain messages) may give us a clue about what happened to April. That is all that they can do. I considered them when I asked my last question. Would you please answer it?
@radios: Have a look in the Trash.sbd folder in mobile.charter.net
Mapenzi said
@radios: Have a look in the Trash.sbd folder in mobile.charter.net
Hi, Mapenzi. Thanks for joining the discussion! I ignored trash because I do not know how another folder could be inside it. I cannot drag a folder into trash, and deleting a folder deletes it immediately instead of putting it into trash. (Local folders work differently from IMAP folders. I don't know why.) Do you know something that I don't about how April could be trash? Maybe radios moved the folder in the file system?
Hi Rick, I was just curious! I said to myself when there is a Trash.sbd folder in the profile there should be some file in it. But you are right: folders created in imap accounts don't behave like local folders. I just created a folder April in one of my IMAP accounts, put somme messages in it, then deleted April and clicked Empty Deleted on Trash folder. I did this several times with variable results in the profile. Sometimes there was a Trash.sbd folder which contained an April.msf file .... So probably my idea is bad idea but it doesn't cost much to open Trash.sbd .... And imagine if there were a third April.msf file in Trash.sbd I would remove the two others from mobile.charter.net and move the one from Trash.sbd back in mobile.charter.net
Modified by Mapenzi
Mapenzi said
I did this several times with variable results in the profile. Sometimes there was a Trash.sbd folder which contained an April.msf file .... So probably my idea is bad idea but it doesn't cost much to open Trash.sbd .... And imagine if there were a third April.msf file in Trash.sbd I would remove the two others from mobile.charter.net and move the one from Trash.sbd back in mobile.charter.net
Right, no harm in asking and it costs nothing to look. I wasn't critical. Always trying to learn and understand better. And I like collaborating on solutions.
If we find April, I imagine that deleting all the April.msf files and letting Thunderbird create a new one might be good.
Since this is an IMAP I would propose to R-click on the mobile.charter.net account > Subscribe... and verify in the folder list whether it contains an April folder or not and whether it has a check-mark or not.
I am sorry if I get lost. Here are screen shots of mobil.charter And screen shots of the trash. In both cases it asks me how to open and I don't know. When I open with paint I get html or coding.
Chosen Solution
The only screen image that might be helpful for us now is one of the contents of trash.sbd.
We are not interested in .msf files.
What is more important now is to do two things in Thunderbird:
- Look at my first screen image as a model for you. See the ">" next to the Archive folder. Do you have ">" next to your Archive folder? If so, click it. You will see sub-folders of the Archive folder. Is April there?
- See my second screen image as a model for you. Right click on your account name in the folder pane (in my example "radios@charter.net"). In the drop-down list box that appears, click on "Subscribe". Look through the list of folders. Is April there? If so, check the checkbox next to April.
Nothing in either. I guess somehow I deleted it. But it all began by my folders disappearing. I am taking a trip and all the confirmation emails and instructions for several hotels and flights I moved into the April folder, thinking it would all be safe. I can rebuild some of the information but not all. I will just have to learn a lesson, don't trust thunderbird.
By the way, thank you for your help, Charles
So how did you solve your problem with Charles' help? I'm interested....
radios said
Nothing in either. I guess somehow I deleted it. But it all began by my folders disappearing. I am taking a trip and all the confirmation emails and instructions for several hotels and flights I moved into the April folder, thinking it would all be safe. I can rebuild some of the information but not all. I will just have to learn a lesson, don't trust thunderbird.
Since you attached a screen image from the file system and not Thunderbird, I am not confident that you tried my two suggested steps in Thunderbird. Did you?
I do not know if Thunderbird is to blame for whatever happened to your folder, but making back-up copies of your data regularly is always important. If you have a recent back-up, you can restore the missing folder.
This is the first time that you have said "folders" in the plural. I thought that we were looking for just April. Are other folders missing?
Rick, Maybe I did not understand your instructions. Can you direct mt to them again? As for the folder, there is only one called April, but it shows up as two when I go to troubleshooting information, profile folder, open folder, imapmil, mobil.charter.net archivessbd. There is nothing in archives.
You keep going back through troubleshooting information to the file system. We are done with that. I suggested that you do two things within the Thunderbird app. Just open Thunderbird and try these steps:
- Look at my first screen image as a model for you. See the ">" next to the Archive folder. Do you have ">" next to your Archive folder? If so, click it. You will see sub-folders of the Archive folder. Is April there?
- See my second screen image as a model for you. Right click on your account name in the folder pane (in my example "radios@charter.net"). In the drop-down list box that appears, click on "Subscribe". Look through the list of folders. Is April there? If so, check the checkbox next to April.
You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.