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Folders in Thunderbird but not in My Computer

  • 11 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by tuttleja

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When I add new folders in Thunderbird (for new customers), they show up in Thunderbird, but they do not show up in My Computer (in the Thunderbird Folder). I use My Computer for searching because it allows me to search all 14K+ customer folders. This allows me to search for phone numbers, cities, names, etc., very quickly. However, very recently (after a recent update), the new folders are not showing up in My Computer, even though they are actually there. It's almost like they aren't being indexed... Hope you can help.

When I add new folders in Thunderbird (for new customers), they show up in Thunderbird, but they do not show up in My Computer (in the Thunderbird Folder). I use My Computer for searching because it allows me to search all 14K+ customer folders. This allows me to search for phone numbers, cities, names, etc., very quickly. However, very recently (after a recent update), the new folders are not showing up in My Computer, even though they are actually there. It's almost like they aren't being indexed... Hope you can help.

All Replies (11)

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When I add new folders in Thunderbird (for new customers), they show up in Thunderbird, but they do not show up in My Computer (in the Thunderbird Folder).

What is exactly is "the Thunderbird Folder"? Please provide a full path.

What is your account type - POP or IMAP?

Have those new folders been created underneath an existing email account, or underneath Local folders?

What exactly is "My Computer"?

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Hi,

Here is the path to the folder in My Computer (S drive, not C drive): S:\Thunderbird\Profiles\pt66rib2.default\Mail\Local Folders\Player-Care Mail.sbd

I'm using a POP Mail Server

Folders were created under Local Folders

'My Computer' in this case is a 4T hard drive (my S drive)

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the new folders are not showing up in My Computer, even though they are actually there.

Can you explain that in more detail? Note, folders you create in Thunderbird are files without a file name extension in the file system.

Here is the path to the folder in My Computer (S drive, not C drive): S:\Thunderbird\Profiles\pt66rib2.default\Mail\Local Folders\Player-Care Mail.sbd

If S:\Thunderbird\Profiles\pt66rib2.default is your profile folder, that's fine. The path above would indicate you did create the new folders as sub folders underneath a folder Player-Care Mail. Look for files with out a file name extension there. There is no reason why these files shouldn't exist in the file system.

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Here's a composite screen shot that shows the problem. In Thunderbird, the customer John Connet is clearly there. However, in the hard drive (S: Drive), the folder is missing. This is not the only missing folder. There are others.

Modified by tuttleja

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Here's another screen shot that I just took after adding a new folder in Thunderbird. As you can see on the right side of the image, Mike Zack is listed. However, on the left side there's no folder for Mike Zack. And, if I search the folder that's in the S: drive for unique information (like the reference order number), it can't be found.

Modified by tuttleja

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Apparently your problem is about Windows Search. There is no issue with Thunderbird missing any mail folders. I have no idea why Windows Search doesn't seem to index new folders you create. In any case, you could also use Thunderbird Global search instead. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/global-search

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You might have a point there. I'll re-index the drives and see what happens. Should only take 24-36 hours....

Modified by tuttleja

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After re-indexing over 1.5 million files, the computer still couldn't find the 'missing' emails. So, I tried two other search programs I have. They couldn't find them either. However, as one of those programs was searching, I noticed something odd. There were hundreds of folders that didn't have the file extension .mozmsgs. But, the folders that did have that file extension had emails in them with the file extension .wdseml. That's when it started to make sense. The computer can't index files that don't have a file extension! Even more curious is the fact that there are hundreds of folders that DO have the file extension .mozmsgs that don't appear to have any files in them -even though there is actually data in the folder. In the screen shot, you can see all the folders on the left. Every folder contains at least two emails (the email from the customer and my reply). Notice in the composite scree shot that you see the customer name (John Cockayne) and the emails in his folder. In the folder below that you see the next customer (John Comstock), but there are no emails there. (Also notice that you don't see the name John Connet -which is what caused me to start this investigation in the first place.) Further, in the main folder (Player_Jocelyn-JohnLuss.sbd), you can see the folders that appear empty and the ones that contain emails -even though they all contain email data. In the case of John Comstock, there are two emails -as you can see in the image at the bottom (a screen shot in Thunderbird). So, the question is: Why isn't Thunderbird assigning a file extension to every single email? (For some reason, I'm not able to upload the image file. It's only 910K... So, I uploaded it to my website (https://www.player-care.com/screen-shot-5.jpg)

Modified by tuttleja

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After re-indexing over 1.5 million files, the computer still couldn't find the 'missing' emails. So, I tried two other search programs I have. They couldn't find them either. However, as one of those programs was searching, I noticed something odd. There were hundreds of folders that didn't have the file extension .mozmsgs. But, the folders that did have that file extension had emails in them with the file extension .wdseml. That's when it started to make sense. The computer can't index files that don't have a file extension! Even more curious is the fact that there are hundreds of folders that DO have the file extension .mozmsgs that don't appear to have any files in them -even though there is actually data in the folder. In the screen shot, you can see all the folders on the left. Every folder contains at least two emails (the email from the customer and my reply). Notice in the composite scree shot that you see the customer name (John Cockayne) and the emails in his folder. In the folder below that you see the next customer (John Comstock), but there are no emails there. (Also notice that you don't see the name John Connet -which is what caused me to start this investigation in the first place.) Further, in the main folder (Player_Jocelyn-JohnLuss.sbd), you can see the folders that appear empty and the ones that contain emails -even though they all contain email data. In the case of John Comstock, there are two emails -as you can see in the image at the bottom (a screen shot in Thunderbird). So, the question is: Why isn't Thunderbird assigning a file extension to every single email? (For some reason I'm not able to upload the image file....)

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I noticed something odd. There were hundreds of folders that didn't have the file extension .mozmsgs. But, the folders that did have that file extension had emails in them with the file extension .wdseml.

When you told Windows Search to search Thunderbird email, this is what creates the .mozmsg folders and the .wdseml files. .wdseml files are not the ones with your mail, the just contain an extract from each message.

Files without a file extension are the ones containing your mail. And there is only one mail file per folder.

At the top right of the Thunderbird window, click the menu button > Preferences > General > System Integration Make sure 'Allow Windows Search to search messages' is checked.

So, the question is: Why isn't Thunderbird assigning a file extension to every single email?

The question rather is why isn't Windows Search creating those .mozmsg folders and the .wdseml files, assuming the box mention above is indeed ticked.

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While I'm reluctant to disagree, hundreds of the folders in the hard drive contain the complete emails and each one has a file extension. The ones 'without' a file extension are as you described. This screen shot shows some folders with files that contain an extension and ones that do not. Windows Search can easily find information in the files 'with' a file extension, but it can't find information in the files 'without' a file extension. So, the question remains: Why isn't Thunderbird assigning file extensions to the files? Also, all of this doesn't answer the initial question concerning the missing file folder. I've created five new folders since my initial posting and none of them show up in the listing. For references sake, a folder for John Connet does exist in the folder named 'Player_Jocelyn-JohnLuss.sbd', but it clearly doesn't show up in the listing.