Moving messages within Thunderbird
I use Thunderbird 140.0esr (64 bit) under Windows 11. In recent days I can usually not move or copy an email message between folders, though occasionally a move succeeds for no obvious reason. For instance, I right-click an email in my Inbox and ask to move it to folder abc. It disappears from Inbox but does not show up in abc. If I look for it in All Mail it's there, but I cannot move or copy it to abc from there either. Usually I get no error message, but today I got one saying I should check my write privileges and disc space. I searched on a browser for write privileges and found information about Windows but nothing about Thunderbird. I have adequate disc space. This problem only appeared on about 29 July 2025; before then, moving and copying worked reliably both by right-clicking and by drag-and-drop.
All Replies (2)
Sorry to hear this, let’s roll up our sleeves and fix it though. We'll start by Repairing the Folder Indexes - These can get corrupted and cause move/copy failures. like you described
For each problem folder (Inbox, abc, etc):
- Right-click the folder in Thunderbird
- Choose Properties
- Click Repair Folder
- Let it rebuild (may take a moment if the folder is large)
- Then restart Thunderbird and try the move again.
I hope this helps you; keep us posted!
Thank you, ThundaMike. I've done what you said, several times in fact, but the problem remains; some files failing to move and disappearing from all folders except All Files. Also when I click on "Repair Folder" nothing seems to happen, and if I click on it a second time I get the message "The operation failed because another operation is using the folder. Please wait for that operation to finish and then try again." I have tried waiting a while and clicking again, but get the same message. Is there something else I could try?
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