Thunderbird freezes or is extremely slow, using 100 % CPU, with "Searching..." in the status bar
Hello, I just bought a new laptop and installed Linux Mint 19.2 together with TB 62. I then transferred all my emails from the old LP (running Linux Mint 18). I am unfortunately dealing with a very annoying problem. When TB starts, it uses 100% of one of the core (CPU Intel I7 8th generation with 8 core) and TB is unusable. It lasts for several minutes and then the program starts being usable but still very slow. I didn't have this problem with my previous LP. I tried re-creatng the global-messages-db.sqlite and the *.msf files but the problem is still there. How can I solve it?
Novain'i Wayne Mery t@
All Replies (16)
I am sorry for the mistake. The correct TB version is 60.2.1 (64-bit)
Just a thought. Initial indexing may take a while, depending on the size of your email archive. You can check whether indexing is running via Activity Manager.
At the top right of the Thunderbird window, click the menu button 
> Activity Manager
Hi, thank you very much for your answer. The problem is that when TB starts, it is completely blocked and I cannot do anything with it. If can help, when it starts it stays for a very long time with "Searching..." in the footer bar.
Try to start Thunderbird in safe mode. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/safe-mode-thunderbird
Does the problem go away?
Actually, it is exactly the same, nothing changed :(
Is there a log file to monitor?
See if this article helps. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Memory_Usage_Problems
Hello, i tried what you suggested. I noticed that the most of the problems are related to windows environment while I am running Linux Mint 19.2. I tried to set the following env variables: export MOZ_LOG="POP3:5,MAILBOX:5,MailDirStore:5,MsgBiff:5,msgcompose:5,MsgCopyService:5,MSGDB:5MsgPurge:5,timestamp" export MOZ_LOG_FILE="/tmp/TB.log" and run TB from the terminal. TB starts writing in the log file as soon as it starts but it suddenly stops.
This is the final part of the log file as it stops waiting for more action: 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658371 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658372 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658372 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] RECV: SASL PLAIN LOGIN 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658381 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658382 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658383 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] RECV: . 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658401 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658401 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Entering state: 30 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658402 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] ProcessAuth() 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658403 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] POP auth: server caps 0x61CAA, pref 0x1C00, failed 0x0, avail caps 0x1C00 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658404 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] (GSSAPI = 0x100000, CRAM = 0x2000, APOP = 0x4000, NTLM = 0x8000, MSN = 0x10000, PLAIN = 0x1000, LOGIN = 0x800, USER/PASS = 0x400) 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658405 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] trying auth method 0x1000 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658405 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] POP username 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658406 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e24980] Entering state: 5 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658445 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering NET_ProcessPop3 89 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658446 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 3 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658447 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: +OK 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658448 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658449 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: CAPA 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658450 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658450 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658451 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: TOP 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658451 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658452 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658453 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: UIDL 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658453 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658454 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658454 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: RESP-CODES 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658455 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658456 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658456 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: PIPELINING 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658457 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658458 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658458 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: AUTH-RESP-CODE 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658459 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658459 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658460 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: USER 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658461 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Capability entry processed 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658479 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] Entering state: 29 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658479 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: I/POP3 [this=0x7fe6c8e245c0] RECV: SASL PLAIN LOGIN 2018-10-28 20:56:29.658481 UTC - [24458:Main Thread]: D/POP
AS you can see, it stops before ending writing POP3. My feeling is something starts during TB startup and block every other activities.
Please post your Troubleshooting Information.
At the top right of the Thunderbird window, click the menu button , then select Help > Troubleshooting Information.
Press the "Copy text to clipboard button" and paste the information into your reply.
Hi, I'm having a similar problem, which seems to have started recently. My machine has 4 cores, and tbird eats up 100% of one shortly after being launched, but the UI remains responsive. For me, Safe Mode does make the problem go away, but of course I want my add-ons to be functional. Using the same log setup as MarcoZ62, the log stops dead in the middle of a line like his does. Here's my Troubleshooting Info (with account stuff redacted):
(It's way too big to just dump on this thread!)
Let me know what else I can do to gather information and generally help solve this! Thanks!
Novain'i lotharyx t@
lotharyx started a question with no question: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1239040#
Does not sound like same issue as original postee as your computer is ok in Safe mode.
Here I am. Sorry for the huge delay. Here is what I got from "Help > Troubleshooting Information"
If you're using the Ubuntu provided version of Thunderbird, try the vanilla version from https://www.thunderbird.net/ instead.
Also make sure to get rid of the separate Ubuntu provided Lightning package prior to using the vanilla version.
I am using Linux Mint 19 Tara and the TB is the one I found installed with Mint. Do I have to remove it? When you suggest to try the vanilla version of TB, you mean I should remove the installed one with sudo apt.get remove thunderbird and then re-install the TB downloaded from https://www.thunderbird.net/ Which PPA should I use to have TB properly updated? Thank you
I am using Linux Mint 19 Tara and the TB is the one I found installed with Mint. Do I have to remove it?
Yes, along with the Lightning package.
When you suggest to try the vanilla version of TB, you mean I should remove the installed one with sudo apt.get remove thunderbird
Yes, along with the Lightning package. There is no damage doing that. You can restore the Mint version of Thunderbird at any time, and the profile with your data will be untouched. Having said that, it is always recommended to have a current backup of your Thunderbird profile. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile
then re-install the TB downloaded from https://www.thunderbird.net/
Technically 'installation' here simply means unpacking an archive to a folder of your choice.
Which PPA should I use to have TB properly updated?
There is no PPA. Thunderbird has a built-in update mechanism independent of the package manager of your distribution. Also see
Using the vanilla Thunderbird is meant as a test to find out if that fixes your problem. Regardless of the outcome, it's up to you to decide with which version you want to proceed.
MarcoZ62 said
I am using Linux Mint 19 Tara and the TB is the one I found installed with Mint. Do I have to remove it? When you suggest to try the vanilla version of TB, you mean I should remove the installed one with sudo apt.get remove thunderbird and then re-install the TB downloaded from https://www.thunderbird.net/ ... Thank you
Doing better with the new download from thunderbird.net ??