This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

How to create a saved search folder "not in other saved searches"?

  • 1 reply
  • 0 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by townie

townie
townie
more options

(TLDR; Questions in bold at the bottom)

I currently have just a desktop Mac. I recently switched from Apple Mail to Thunderbird to read three email accounts: iCloud, gmail & a university account. I had previously used rules at the server level on my iCloud account, and this caused hella pain during the migration, including some zombie rules that I think I have isolated to Thunderbird. I deleted the rules from iCloud, removed the iCloud account from Thunderbird, restarted and then re-added it to Thunderbird. So far, so good, although I had to resubscribe to the draft, junk and trash folders (all other than the inbox) for some reason.

I have decided to experiment with not using rules or folders at all, and instead use local saved searches in Thunderbird. This will make my life easier when I get a laptop, which is inevitable. Two machines reading the same IMAP emails with rules can get weird.

Can I copy/paste existing saved search folders, so I can do similar searches just by making minor changes to the search terms? If so, how?

Can I copy/paste or save saved search folders, so I can do the same searches on a different Mac, without painstakingly recreating all the search terms? If so, how?

Can I create a saved search folder that contains all the messages not found in any OTHER saved search folder? If so, how?

(TLDR; Questions in bold at the bottom) I currently have just a desktop Mac. I recently switched from Apple Mail to Thunderbird to read three email accounts: iCloud, gmail & a university account. I had previously used rules at the server level on my iCloud account, and this caused hella pain during the migration, including some zombie rules that I '''think''' I have isolated to Thunderbird. I deleted the rules from iCloud, removed the iCloud account from Thunderbird, restarted and then re-added it to Thunderbird. So far, so good, although I had to resubscribe to the draft, junk and trash folders (all other than the inbox) for some reason. I have decided to experiment with not using rules or folders at all, and instead use local saved searches in Thunderbird. This will make my life easier when I get a laptop, which is inevitable. Two machines reading the same IMAP emails with rules can get weird. '''Can I copy/paste existing saved search folders, so I can do similar searches just by making minor changes to the search terms? If so, how?''' '''Can I copy/paste or save saved search folders, so I can do the same searches on a different Mac, without painstakingly recreating all the search terms? If so, how?''' '''Can I create a saved search folder that contains all the messages not found in any OTHER saved search folder? If so, how?'''

All Replies (1)

townie
townie Question owner
more options

I investigated a little further, and I found folders and files which match the names of my saved searches:

home folder/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/z2yxrvgg.default-release/Mail/Local Folders/

For example: an empty folder called "Amazon" and a file called "Amazon.msf".

I duplicated and renamed a folder/file pair and they opened as a saved search on the next start of Thunderbird. I think I just solved this, although it seems like a janky solution.