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Inbox and its folders missing from Thunderbird.

  • 6 replies
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  • Last reply by DBee

DBee
DBee
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This morning my Inbox and its folders are stopped displaying in Thunderbird 68.9.0 (Windows 10). This has happened occasionally over the 15 years I've used Thunderbird. On those occasions I was able to fix it by re-setting up my existing account (Menu>New>Existing mail account...) and then restarting. But that's not working this time. I can see all my folders without their contents via Go>Folders>"myaccount">Inbox. I can see that I have received emails since the Inbox went missing from the Thunderbird user interface by searching the email data files. I can also see the emails stored in the Inbox folders in the data files.

I'm out of ideas on how to fix this. Appreciation in advance for any assistance or ideas.

...david

This morning my Inbox and its folders are stopped displaying in Thunderbird 68.9.0 (Windows 10). This has happened occasionally over the 15 years I've used Thunderbird. On those occasions I was able to fix it by re-setting up my existing account (Menu>New>Existing mail account...) and then restarting. But that's not working this time. I can see all my folders without their contents via Go>Folders>"myaccount">Inbox. I can see that I have received emails since the Inbox went missing from the Thunderbird user interface by searching the email data files. I can also see the emails stored in the Inbox folders in the data files. I'm out of ideas on how to fix this. Appreciation in advance for any assistance or ideas. ...david

Chosen solution

Everything is working as I would expect.

I'm guessing that the cause was a corrupted disc (from a power outage) that I repaired with CHKDSK. Everything except for TB seemed to weather the storm. When I look at the original folderTree.json file that I renamed rather than erased it is un-openable with any app I have. Guess it was corrupted in the power outage or recovery.

Once again, thanks for all your help.

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All Replies (6)

sfhowes
sfhowes
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Is the Folder Pane visible but empty, or is it hidden (under View/Layout)?

DBee
DBee Question owner
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The Folder Pane is visible and empty.

sfhowes
sfhowes
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Check that View/Folders is All. Try launching in safe mode (hold Shift when you start TB), and if that doesn't help, open the profile folder from Help/Troubleshooting, Open Folder, close TB, delete folderTree.json.

DBee
DBee Question owner
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View/Folders is set to 'All'.

I launched TB in safe mode. There was with no improvement.

I opened the profile folder from Help/Troubleshooting, Open Folder, I closed TB, I deleted folderTree.json in FileExplorer.

When I relaunched TB, I was greeted with a System Integration dialog. On that dialog I unchecked "Always perform this check when starting Thunderbird" and clicked on the [Set as Default] button.

At first it looked like there was very little improvement. But then I noticed that the "Home" tab in TB had changed to "Inbox". Then I noticed my account was at the top of the formerly empty Folders Pane. My Inbox and all of the folders within then magically appeared upon clicking the drop-down arrow next to my account, . All of my emails in my inbox also appeared in the messages pane.

Upon closing TB I see the folderTree.json has been regenerated in the profile folder.

So it looks as if it's fixed. I'd like to give it the evening before marking it Solved to make sure all is working as expected.

Question: So does the folderTree.json get corrupted from time to time? Is that what happened?

Many thanks for your help. I would have been stuck without you.

sfhowes
sfhowes
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DBee said
Question: So does the folderTree.json get corrupted from time to time? Is that what happened? Many thanks for your help. I would have been stuck without you.

The file occasionally, but not often, becomes corrupted, and the cause is hard to pin down. It could be a crash, a 'cleaner' type app, a damaged upgrade, or some other app that scans the mail folders. Deleting the json is one remedy for a damaged layout.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Toolbar_or_windows_layout_not_working

DBee
DBee Question owner
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Chosen Solution

Everything is working as I would expect.

I'm guessing that the cause was a corrupted disc (from a power outage) that I repaired with CHKDSK. Everything except for TB seemed to weather the storm. When I look at the original folderTree.json file that I renamed rather than erased it is un-openable with any app I have. Guess it was corrupted in the power outage or recovery.

Once again, thanks for all your help.