Why are Folder and Message Panes now blank after opening Thunderbird - no folders,no emails,no error messages?
The folder options don't work to add folders to the folder pane. There are also no headings over the message pane that shows who sent the email, date, etc. I've clicked on "get messages" and seen a message at the bottom of the window beside the "online/offline" icon that says it is checking/adding messages to various mail boxes, so I know it is not frozen, but both panes stay blank(Thunderbird is online). The folder in the tab on the top of the start-up page says "Home". I've reinstalled the program but this did not fix the issue. This is a Windows 7 computer, but the OS in the "Troubleshooting Information" page says Windows_NT 6.1. The Thunderbird version is 68.6.0 I even installed Thunderbird on a Win 10 machine and migrated the "Thunderbird" folder to that machine and got the same problem. I have used Thunderbird for years with no issues. This started about 2 or 3 days ago. I guess there could have been some upgrade that Thunderbird did, behind the scenes, but I don't know that. Being at a loss as to what to do next, I would appreciate any help you could give me.
All Replies (5)
There appears to be a couple of issues recently that pop up with updates. Why is a mystery as it is just "some folks" and no real links, other than many using Kaspersky anti virus.
The first thing to try is https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/rebuilding-global-database as this appears to be the most common "fix"
What size was your global-messages-db.sqlite file?
Thanks Matt, I appreciate your help. My global-messages-db.sqlite was 16,544. I deleted it per the instructions in the link you sent me. When I started Thunderbird, it took 3 or 4 minutes to complete the rebuild, but neither the folder or the message panes populated. I went back into the profile after the rebuild and the global-messages-db.sqlite file is 7,584. The folder in the tab at the top of the start-up still says "Home", should it have the long number that is the name of the default profile file rather than "Home"? What else can I do? Kenny
Matt, a little more information for you. When I go to File-Get New Messages for-All accounts, it's retrieving new emails and checking all the accounts I have in Thunderbird, but nothing shows up. Hope this is helpful. Thanks Kenny
Ok, time to try some generic stuff.
First try safe mode, by holding the shift key while Thunderbird starts and continuing when prompted. If that works, try the reset of menus etc on the safge mode prompt and restart.
Still not good, safe mode and disable all addons and try again.
Still not there, open the profile folder with Thunderbird closed and delete the sessions.json file as well and the foldertree.json file and restart. They cache most of the user interface settings. so deleting them will reset some stuff to defaults, but it might also bring about a cure.
If you restart after each deletion, a more definitive faulty file might help me in the future.
Thank you Matt. I started in safe mode, first with"Reset toolbars and controls" checked. It restarted, but folder and message panes still blank. Then I tried to start in safe mode with "Disable all add-ons" selected. This time, when I clicked "Make Changes and Restart" it never restarted. The "Thunderbird Safe Mode" dialog box just stayed on the screen. Then I deleted sessions.json and restarted next I deleted the foldertree.json file and restarted. Both panes still blank on restart. FYI, before this issue, I used to notice a progress status in the task bar at the bottom of the screen where Thunderbird, when launched, would check all email accounts for new emails. I don't see that anymore. I appreciate all your help. Kenny