Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More
Este fío arquivouse. Faga unha nova pregunta se precisa axuda.
Arquivado

Tags disappeared after folder Repair

Thunderbird Tags
Wayne Mery replied
dmshaull
dmshaull

I'm using Thunderbird to connect to the AOL IMAP server. There seemed to be some missing messages in the Inbox so I did folder / Properties / Repair Folder. This caused ALL the messages to be downloaded from the server. (I suppose this is needed but it was unexpected.) Anyway, after the repair finished I noticed that many but not all of the tags I had applied to various messages had disappeared. I am using the tag feature quite a lot, so this is a significant problem.

Why did Thunderbird do that? Is there anyway I can get the tags back?

Thanks, David

I'm using Thunderbird to connect to the AOL IMAP server. There seemed to be some missing messages in the Inbox so I did folder / Properties / Repair Folder. This caused ALL the messages to be downloaded from the server. (I suppose this is needed but it was unexpected.) Anyway, after the repair finished I noticed that many but not all of the tags I had applied to various messages had disappeared. I am using the tag feature quite a lot, so this is a significant problem. Why did Thunderbird do that? Is there anyway I can get the tags back? Thanks, David

All Replies (4)

sfhowes
sfhowes

Perhaps the tags are stored in the local .msf file instead of on the IMAP server, so that Folder Repair (which rebuilds the .msf) eliminates the tags. If your server doesn't support keywords, it might be advisable to use custom folders instead of tags for sorting mail.

https://kb.mozillazine.org/Tags#IMAP

dmshaull
dmshaull Question owner

Thanks for the reply. But if the tags are stored in the local .msf file rather than on the IMAP server, I don't see why some tags would still be there and some are not. How can I determine if the AOL IMAP server supports keywords?

sfhowes
sfhowes

I can't say why some tags disappear and some don't. The easiest way to see if the server supports keywords is to tag a message on one computer with TB and then see if the tag appears on another computer with TB.

Wayne Mery
Wayne Mery
  • Top 25 Contributor
  • Moderator

Some servers only support a limited number of tags, for example 10.