Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

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.

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

Wannan tattunawa ta zama daɗaɗɗiya. Yi sabuwar tambaya idan ka na bukatar taimako.

ImportExportTools NG - Import of Subdirectories not working

  • 2 amsoshi
  • 1 yana da wannan matsala
  • 1 view
  • Amsa ta ƙarshe daga volker.wille

more options

Hi,

I have used PST Converter from SysTools to convert an Outlook PST file into MBOX files. In this PST file there are about 1000 MBOX files in about 50 directories. In the Windows directory the MBOX files are in the correct directory structure.

It is possible to load all 1000 MBOX files into Thunderbird 10.91.0, but the directory structure of the files is lost. So instead of having 1000 files in 50 directories all 1000 files are listed.

I have noticed that there is no *.sbd file. This might be the problem.

Is there are information about the structure/content of the *.sbd file?

Best regards,

Volker

Hi, I have used PST Converter from SysTools to convert an Outlook PST file into MBOX files. In this PST file there are about 1000 MBOX files in about 50 directories. In the Windows directory the MBOX files are in the correct directory structure. It is possible to load all 1000 MBOX files into Thunderbird 10.91.0, but the directory structure of the files is lost. So instead of having 1000 files in 50 directories all 1000 files are listed. I have noticed that there is no *.sbd file. This might be the problem. Is there are information about the structure/content of the *.sbd file? Best regards, Volker

All Replies (2)

more options

sdb files are not files. They are system folders/ directories.

Using the inbox as an example.

Inbox.msf This file is the index (sometimes called the database) it basically populates the internal message lists and contains references to the actual email locations (offsets) in the inbox file.

Inbox This is the inbox mbox file. Thunderbird uses no file extensions for mbox files and if they are placed in the profile folder with them they will appear in the folder list in Thunderbird with them.

Inbox.sdb This is the system folder used by Thunderbird to hold the mbox files for sub folders of the inbox folder.

I have some images in my blog post from probably 10 years ago https://thunderbirdtweaks.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html that might help explain.

more options

Hi Matt,

thanks for your comments!

Having experimented with the some of my *.mbox files, I now understand that *.sbd files are required to indicate the hierarchical structure of the *.mbox files to Thunderbird. On a small scale I could replicate the Outlook hierarchy by creating *.SBD files in the required locations.

Unfortunately I have about so many *.mbox files that creating the *.sbd files manually is not really an option.

It is a shame that the 'ImportExportTools NG' flattens the existing hierarchy of the *.mbox files in the Windows file directories (see attachment) and turns these into a flat structure in Thunderbird.

Best regards,

Volker