Extra attachment. Here are my email addresses and folders...

In your first picture, the search window shows the Location column, which will display the subfolder of a search result, if 'Search subfolders' is checked. That works here on Local Folders, but to get the same result for an IMAP folder, you may have to check 'Run search on server'.

Thanks, but the problem is that the three horiz lines search requires me to state which folder I want to search. See attached png. But with multiple emails and folders, I do NOT know which folder and sub-folder the emails are in.

This three horiz lines search needs upgrading to prove an option to search ALL emails in ALL FOLDERS. Only then will it be able to find all emails fitting my search criteria no matter where they are.

But since the regular always-there search box both searches and finds ALL emails fulfilling my search criteria, it would be a LOT MORE USER-FRIENDLY if it were to be helpful and report the folder/sub-folder each email is in rather than being of such little value because I still need to look in each sub-folder to find out where each one is...

Currently, Thunderbird searching is not at all well thought out - and this urgently needs fixing...

re :the problem is that the three horiz lines search requires me to state which folder I want to search. See attached png. But with multiple emails and folders, I do NOT know which folder and sub-folder the emails are in.

You do not need to know which folder.

If you know which account the email is in but do not know which folder, then select the account name in the drop down list to see another drop down list; the top option will be the actual account name (and below it will be a list of folders). Select the top one - the account name and it will auto search all the folders and subfolders providing you selected the checkbox to 'search subfolders'.

If you do not know which account nor what folder etc: Do the same as mentioned above on one mail account. When the search has been completed and you have located the email: click on 'Save as Search Folder' Give folder a suitable name Create as a subfolder of the an account or 'Local Folders' (I prefer 'Local Folders') Select the folders to search....click on 'Choose' You can then add individual folders from any account. click on 'Update'.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Please note that this 'Search folder' can then be updated. So once you have selected all the folders, you can change the search criteria. Or perhaps you have created a new folder and need to include that new folder in the Search. Or perhaps you want to exclude certain folders like Junk.

Right click on the search folder and select 'Properties' You can now modify anything in that Search folder - the search parameters or the folders. then click on 'Update'

Once set up this can be a very useful way of quickly creating a folder that contains whatever search criteria you specifically are looking for. You can also enable the column headers 'Location' and 'Account'.

There are different search types in Thunderbird and you can choose which one does the particular job you require.

'Global Search' will search all accounts. So perhaps this option will be a better method.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/global-search

Example: I'm looking for any message that mentions 'birthday' in all accounts.

In Global Search' text box type: birthday and select drop down option 'Messages mentioning birthday' a new tab opens showing a list of emails. You will also see additional filter options in the left Pane. You could also select to 'Open email as list'.

Thanks.

Yes, Global Search searches everywhere, but does NOT tell me which email account and sub-folder each email it finds is in. It could easily report the location(s) in the panel on the left that categorizes the results.

So then I have to manually search each email account and sub-folder anyway now I know the subject of the email. So it's not much better than nothing.

It desperately needs to become user-friendly and also indicate where - which email account and sub-folder - each email it finds is in...

Note that each search I make is always for a different text string, one whose location is not obvious to me, it could be in any of over 40 accounts/sub-folders ...

Toad-Hall said

If you do not know which account nor what folder etc: Do the same as mentioned above on one mail account. When the search has been completed and you have located the email: click on 'Save as Search Folder' Give folder a suitable name Create as a subfolder of the an account or 'Local Folders' (I prefer 'Local Folders') Select the folders to search....click on 'Choose' You can then add individual folders from any account. click on 'Update'.

Thanks again for your help.

There are often several if not many emails with each search string and then I'm looking for the one email or several I need. So can I do what you suggest with several emails in several different accounts/sub-folders? If so, how?

It also suggests that this procedure needs me to know the account/sub-folder with the resultant email(s) "When the search has been completed and you have located the email"

but this is the problem, I do NOT know where it is/they are, that's why I'm searching... If I knew, then no need to search. Am I misunderstanding your response here?

Note that each search I make is always for a different text string, one whose location is not obvious to me...

As mentioned above, 'Open email as list' gives a Threads-Pane view of the results, and you can enable the Location and Account columns to further specify the exact subfolder.

Thanks. Now that I've enabled view Account in Global Search with "Open email as list," it does at last give me the Account as well as the folders in which the search results are in.

Then I need to sort this list on Correspondents to nail down the actual email I'm interested in. But Thunderbird is unfriendly here, it does NOT remember my selection - sort on Correspondents - through a Thunderbird Quit.

I much appreciate both of you for your help here. So apart from an ENHANCEMENT REQUEST to remember my selection for next time, I can now find all the search results for a text string. Please can this be listed as an enhancement request?

A Request For Enhancement (RFE) is normally submitted to Bugzilla:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi#h=dupes%7CThunderbird