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Special folders spawning in trash, how do I move them?

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by calbear7

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I'm new to thunderbird and, when I first added my aol mail account as IMAP, I deleted (thru thunderbird) what I thought were random, extra folders that appeared under all the other standard thunderbird folders - these were not folders I created, but rather ones I assume aol added for every account. All were removed from the aol mail site save an "Archive" folder which does not allow me to delete it even though it is under the folders section.

I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now, a "Draft" and an "Archive" folder are spawning in the trash section for my aol mail account on thunderbird and I cannot for the life of me get it to stop/move them/etc. These are not the standard "Drafts" and "Archives" folders of thunderbird fyi, but aol's Drafts section (the one on the server has an s even though the folder in thunderbird does not) and Archive folder (which I mentioned above). If I save anything to the standard thunderbird folders, a "Drafts" and "Archives" folder appear in the folder section in aol mail.

I have my settings set to use the standard thunderbird folders, but the ones from aol keep spawning in the trash every restart no matter what I try. I know it's just copying things over or whatever and I don't mind the folders appearing, but how the hell do I get them out of the trash?? I've gone so far as to completely uninstall (including the appdata folder) and reinstall thunderbird, but that didn't change anything. Are there some other settings or something somewhere that I missed? They're not appearing in the trash on the aol mail site, so I'm assuming this is something wrong on thunderbird's end and is messed up because I deleting those original folders. Is there any way to fix this?

I'm new to thunderbird and, when I first added my aol mail account as IMAP, I deleted (thru thunderbird) what ''I thought'' were random, extra folders that appeared under all the other standard thunderbird folders - these were not folders I created, but rather ones I assume aol added for every account. All were removed from the aol mail site save an "Archive" folder which does not allow me to delete it even though it is under the folders section. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now, a "Draft" and an "Archive" folder are spawning in the trash section for my aol mail account on thunderbird and I cannot for the life of me get it to stop/move them/etc. These are ''not'' the standard "Drafts" and "Archives" folders of thunderbird fyi, but aol's Drafts section (the one on the server has an s even though the folder in thunderbird does not) and Archive folder (which I mentioned above). If I save anything to the standard thunderbird folders, a "Drafts" and "Archives" folder appear in the folder section in aol mail. I have my settings set to use the standard thunderbird folders, but the ones from aol keep spawning in the trash every restart no matter what I try. I know it's just copying things over or whatever and I don't mind the folders appearing, but how the hell do I get them out of the trash?? I've gone so far as to completely uninstall (including the appdata folder) and reinstall thunderbird, but that didn't change anything. Are there some other settings or something somewhere that I missed? They're not appearing in the trash on the aol mail site, so I'm assuming this is something wrong on thunderbird's end and is messed up because I deleting those original folders. Is there any way to fix this?
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

The folders are not in that structure on the website, as shown in the image provided. There's no way for me to move or do anything at all with them there.

However, I think I've figured out what the problem was - or at least how to fix it anyway. On the website, I had been looking under AOL's mail settings when what I apparently needed was buried in the account info, under recent activity. There, it shows "App connected to your account" and had thunderbird listed once, dated from when I first installed it (despite it asking for authorization every single time?). I removed it from there and reinstalled, only to have the folders once again appear in the trash. But, when I changed my account settings in thunderbird to use the standard Archives and Drafts folders, I was then able to drag and drop the other two folders from the trash and onto the main account drop down (which I could not do before and, apparently, can't do again now that I've restarted thunderbird).

So, I guess I was just missing that bit and I didn't think about it because it was asking me for authorization every time. Appreciate the help.

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All Replies (5)

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Since your account is IMAP, my suggestion is to uninstall Thunderbird, delete profile and start over. Much easier than untwisting all of this.

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david said

Since your account is IMAP, my suggestion is to uninstall Thunderbird, delete profile and start over. Much easier than untwisting all of this.

As I said, I've already tried deleting and uninstalling, it did not help. I deleted everything in appdata local and roaming. Is there some other location I'm missing? Do I need to restart or something for it to take full affect?

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I suggest you log online to your account. When you start a fresh copy of TB, it propagates the folders it finds from the online account. Fix that, and TB should show folders properly .

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Chosen Solution

The folders are not in that structure on the website, as shown in the image provided. There's no way for me to move or do anything at all with them there.

However, I think I've figured out what the problem was - or at least how to fix it anyway. On the website, I had been looking under AOL's mail settings when what I apparently needed was buried in the account info, under recent activity. There, it shows "App connected to your account" and had thunderbird listed once, dated from when I first installed it (despite it asking for authorization every single time?). I removed it from there and reinstalled, only to have the folders once again appear in the trash. But, when I changed my account settings in thunderbird to use the standard Archives and Drafts folders, I was then able to drag and drop the other two folders from the trash and onto the main account drop down (which I could not do before and, apparently, can't do again now that I've restarted thunderbird).

So, I guess I was just missing that bit and I didn't think about it because it was asking me for authorization every time. Appreciate the help.

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I have tried EVERYTHING that I can imagine. That damn "Archive" folder refuses to leave. I have completely disabled archiving. Deselecting the "Archive" folder under account-level "Subscribe" does nothing. The "Archive" folder persists. How do we get rid of this garbage?