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My Thunderbird file folder on disk keeps getting larger and larger, endlessly, even though I delete and compact constantly.

  • 3 replies
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  • Last reply by christ1

alan2
alan2
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My Thunderbird file folder keeps getting larger and larger. It's up to 1.06 GB on disk, now, twice what it was a year ago, when I had as many or more emails stored.

I delete as many emails as I get, (most by shift-delete, so they don't even go into trash) and I have it set to compact as often as it will allow (1 MB.)

Yet, day after day, it adds lots more profile files, and very rarely deletes any, (which I see when I do a daily back up).

It's getting to be so big its a problem to back up.

What am I doing wrong? How can I stop the endless growth?

I have Thunderbird Portable, Version 38.7.2 on a USB drive, on a 32 bit Windows 7 PC.

I have under 1500 mostly small emails at the moment, in about a dozen folders (inbox, sent, drafts, trash and a few save folders of my own) but, in Windows Explorer, Thunderbird's properties list 5,265 Files, 3,720 Folders, size 996 MB, size on disk:1.06 GB.

I have 115 emails in my trash folder, but Windows Explorer (data, profile) shows four "Cache.Trash####" folders: 17mb, 27mb, 300mb and 66mb.

Can I just delete the Cache.Trash folders?

BTW, I don't, and have never, used the calendar, chat, news feeds, newsgroups or add-ons.

Thank you for your help.

My Thunderbird file folder keeps getting larger and larger. It's up to 1.06 GB on disk, now, twice what it was a year ago, when I had as many or more emails stored. I delete as many emails as I get, (most by shift-delete, so they don't even go into trash) and I have it set to compact as often as it will allow (1 MB.) Yet, day after day, it adds lots more profile files, and very rarely deletes any, (which I see when I do a daily back up). It's getting to be so big its a problem to back up. What am I doing wrong? How can I stop the endless growth? I have Thunderbird Portable, Version 38.7.2 on a USB drive, on a 32 bit Windows 7 PC. I have under 1500 mostly small emails at the moment, in about a dozen folders (inbox, sent, drafts, trash and a few save folders of my own) but, in Windows Explorer, Thunderbird's properties list 5,265 Files, 3,720 Folders, size 996 MB, size on disk:1.06 GB. I have 115 emails in my trash folder, but Windows Explorer (data, profile) shows four "Cache.Trash####" folders: 17mb, 27mb, 300mb and 66mb. Can I just delete the Cache.Trash folders? BTW, I don't, and have never, used the calendar, chat, news feeds, newsgroups or add-ons. Thank you for your help.

All Replies (3)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Can I just delete the Cache.Trash folders?

Yes, close Thunderbird and delete them.

I don't, and have never, used the calendar, chat, news feeds, newsgroups or add-ons.

You can remove Lightning via the Add-Ons Manager, however, it won't free up loads of disc space.

alan2
alan2 Question owner
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Thanks a lot.

Out of curiosity, what are the Cache Trash folders for and are they supposed to need deleting from time to time?

Do you think they are the whole problem or is there anything else that might be causing the runaway growth?

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Out of curiosity, what are the Cache Trash folders for and are they supposed to need deleting from time to time?

I'm not sure what those Cache.Trash folders are all about. Normally they shouldn't be there in the first place.

is there anything else that might be causing the runaway growth?

You'd need to determine what other large files are in your profile, and if they are growing for no obvious reason.