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Mail subfolders not appearing

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by lepperk

lepperk
lepperk
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We had a power outage a couple days ago causing sudden computer shutdown. When I restarted, Thunderbird was no longer showing most of my mail folders (just Inbox, Sent, Trash, etc.).

I searched the web for answers. I have an IMAP account. I found instructions about subscribing to subfolders, and followed them. The first level of subfolders under my inbox reappeared. However, several of these subfolders have subfolders of their own, and these are still not appearing. I can check my email on the web and the folder structure and all emails are present. But when I download messages, the subfolders and many emails are not showing up.

What is odd is that, in some cases, the emails in sub-sub-folders appear in the main subfolder. But in other cases they are not present at all.

I have tried the following: I have refreshed the list of folders to subscribe to, but it only shows me the first level of folders under inbox (that is, if I have folders named 'Home' and 'Work' inside the inbox, those show up in the subscribe list, but if I have folders inside of the 'Home' folder for 'Bills' and 'Repairs', those sub-sub-folders do not show up int he subscribe list).

In my Thunderbird settings I have verified that the checkbox for 'Server supports folders that contains subfolders' is checked, and the checkbox for 'Show only subscribed folders' is NOT checked.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird. But still no luck.

Does anyone know what else to try to get Thunderbird to recognize and download the subfolder structure from my email provider?

We had a power outage a couple days ago causing sudden computer shutdown. When I restarted, Thunderbird was no longer showing most of my mail folders (just Inbox, Sent, Trash, etc.). I searched the web for answers. I have an IMAP account. I found instructions about subscribing to subfolders, and followed them. The first level of subfolders under my inbox reappeared. However, several of these subfolders have subfolders of their own, and these are still not appearing. I can check my email on the web and the folder structure and all emails are present. But when I download messages, the subfolders and many emails are not showing up. What is odd is that, in some cases, the emails in sub-sub-folders appear in the main subfolder. But in other cases they are not present at all. I have tried the following: I have refreshed the list of folders to subscribe to, but it only shows me the first level of folders under inbox (that is, if I have folders named 'Home' and 'Work' inside the inbox, those show up in the subscribe list, but if I have folders inside of the 'Home' folder for 'Bills' and 'Repairs', those sub-sub-folders do not show up int he subscribe list). In my Thunderbird settings I have verified that the checkbox for 'Server supports folders that contains subfolders' is checked, and the checkbox for 'Show only subscribed folders' is NOT checked. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird. But still no luck. Does anyone know what else to try to get Thunderbird to recognize and download the subfolder structure from my email provider?

All Replies (4)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Try backing up your profile, then right-clicking the Inbox, Properties, Repair Folder. It may take a while for IMAP accounts as the Inbox is re-downloaded.

lepperk
lepperk Question owner
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Thanks so much for your response.

Unfortunately, I had already tried that one too, but it didn't help. I should have included it in the list of things I'd tried!

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Next, I would rebuild the folder(s) by following these instructions:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders#Real_fix

Essentially, you copy the mail to Local Folders, then delete the mbox and msf files, restart TB, and have the folder automatically rebuilt. Help/Troubleshooting Information, click Open Folder to access the profile, then close TB before making changes. Once the folder is rebuilt, you may have to re-subscribe to subfolders.

lepperk
lepperk Question owner
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Thanks. I followed the instructions and rebuilt the folders. As recommended at the link you gave, I did not delete the inbox.sbd folder. I wondered about that, as that folder showed the inbox subfolders but not the sub-sub-folders, so I don't know if that maintained the problem in anyway.

But, while it repopulated the subfolders, it did not put the sub-subfolders back. And, as before, some of the subfolders show the emails from the sub-subfolders in them, and some so do not.