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re :paypal.mozmsgs folder

mozmsg folder will contain *.wdseml files. Each file is a partial copy (up to 49KB) of a message in the mail folder, stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by Windows Search Integration (requires Vista or a later version of Windows).

Create paypal folder. Exit Thunderbird

Access paypal.mozmsgs folder in profile folders. Copy folder to desktop. Open folder on desktop. Change all filename extensions from .wdseml to .eml

Start Thunderbird Use this addon to import the .eml files back into 'Paypal' folder. https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/

Cannot guarantee how much of each email is restored as *.wdseml files usually have a limit on size whichc may or may not be the full email. But it is worth a try.

Usually, if a folder is missing but the .msf file is intact, this suggests an Anti-Virus has quarantined the file. As AV has no knowledge of the .msf file, it is left intact but it is only an indexing file so not a lot of use. Windows 10 has Windows Defender Anti-virus turned on automatically unless an alternative program is installed. It is advised that Thunderbird folder are made exempt from scanning or at least do not auto quarrantine files as AV product does not understand one mbox file can contain more than one email. You could see if the file is still in quarantine.

@toad-hall Thanks, that trick saved all but one or two of the 1036 missing emails :D

Had no AV on though, including defender (disabled via group policy).

Cheers pal :D

See the attached picture of the wdseml folder. Check out the timestamps of the files 19/11/2018 (uk format) 13:02. I didnt have any reason to receive that many paypal emails on that day, so either TB has made spurious copies or someone has sent those as some sort of attack.

None of them from that date/time were imported into the new folder.

Any ideas?

Ive checked and the message dated 7/7/2018 wdseml file name begining with HP2V400000... exists. Its a phishing email with a link leading to a paypal looking site. But a similarly named one was at the beginning of the missing emails on the 19/11/2018 when the folder disappeared. Might just be coincidence ofc, plenty of phishing spam out there.

The reason I dont have AV running on my windows10 is because AV are interpreters running at a high privilege level and are themselves an obvious attack surface (see: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/01/antivirus-is-bad/ ). So I run AV every couple of month and then uninstall them (and disable by defender by group policy).

The things I can think of that may corelate: 1. Those many email remnants in the picture may mean an attack of some sort took place. Though I have no idea why the folder would disappear unless it is to wipe evidence or the specific means of the attack. 2. I updated to TB 60.3.1 32-bit just before the event. 3. Windows 10 has received some attention in the past months foir disappearing folders. Though I didnt feature upgrade from version 1803 to 1809 which is when I understand those problems occur. 4. Something else.

I'm running version 60.5.0 (32 bit). I don't know when the file (named "Boat" with a sub-folder named "Claim") got lost because I haven't accessed it in several months. The solution above does not work - the files referenced do not exist on my system. I tried creating a folder named "Boat" and restarted TB. I just got an hourglass when hovering over the folder (and other places, too). Since it didn't work I deleted the folder. However, I now have an additional folder in my profile named [Gmail]-1.sbd in addition to the original [Gmail] folder, I'm not sure which one (or both?) TB is using.

I do find files named "Boat" and "Claim" in my profile directory.

How do I recover the missing folders?

I'm running 64-bit Windows 10 Pro version 1803 (OS Build 17134.523) and use Gmail for my email service. I see the files and messages when I use the Gmail web interface. However, they are now in "[Gmail] /All Mail/Boat"

Any suggestions are appreciated!

re :I see the files and messages when I use the Gmail web interface. However, they are now in "[Gmail] /All Mail/Boat"

Gmail keeps all emails received, sent, archived in the 'All Mail' folder. You see them in other 'folders' because a label has been applied. The 'label' facilitates a view which users are more familiar with such as 'Inbox' 'sent' etc.

As 'Boat' is now in 'All Mail', this usually means the folder has been archived. This is rather odd as emails are archived when a label eg: 'Boat' is removed so the emails in that label get archived.

You need to access gmail webmail account via a browser and edit the label: [Gmail] /All Mail/Boat Edit the label to say: [Gmail] /Boat

It should under 'Settings' > 'Labels' locate the label and under 'Actions' column select 'Edit'

Thank you for the swift and accurate reply! We're almost there - the "[Gmail]/Boat" folder has a sub-folder "Claim" that was not recreated in TB. I tried several things, one of which was to create a new subfolder in TB, but it doesn't show up, even after relaunching TB. The webmail label shows "Label name: Claim" nested under "[Gmail]/boat".

I have another Folder "Online receipts" with three subfolders and just noticed that the subfolders are also missing in TB. The "Online receipts" folder in TB was not missing as the "Boat" folder was, so for some reason it appears that subfolders were not imported. I'm guessing it happened after the last TB upgrade, but I can't say that for certain. However, I'm fairly confident that I did access at least one of the "Online receipts" subfolders in TB within the last month.

tjsepka1

re : subfolders

Have you subscribed to see those subfolders?

• Right click on gmail imap account and select 'Subscribe'
• click on 'Refresh'
• select subfolders
• click on 'Subscribe'
• click on 'OK'

The "Online receipts" folder had the sub-folders checked, but they're still not showing up in TB.

The "Boat" folder did not have the "Claim" sub-folder checked, so I selected it, hit "Subscribe" and then "Refresh". It comes back unchecked.

I did a repair on all of the affected folders, but it didn't help. I won't do anything more until I hear back from you so we don't get out of sync, or try more than one change at a time.

I was going to reboot because after several TB close and re-launch cycles, I'm only getting an hourglass and no password entry popup box. Before doing that I ran Sysinternal Process Monitor and noted a Thunderbird instance was running so I killed it (it didn't show up anywhere in Task Manager. After relaunching TB and entering my password (the popup box now appears), the "Claim" box now remains checked. However, the sub-folders still don't show up, even after hitting get messages and get all new messages several times.

I forgot to add that the "Server supports folders that contain sub-folders and messages is checked" under "Advanced Account Settings" and has been checked throughout this exercise.

I've tried everything I can think of but my Gmail sub-folders are still not appearing in TB. The TB sub-folders are on my machine, and only one of the four seems to be current, based upon its time and date. Attached is a screen shot of one ("Claim") of four missing sub-folder files that are on my machine.

Any help in resolving this problem is appreciated.

PROBLEM CORRECTED. I turned off the "Black Shine" theme that I was using and TB went back to its default. The missing sub-folders reappeared and continue to do so after re-enabling the "Black Shine" theme.

Many thanks for posting the information regarding the theme issue.