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messages stay in outbox after being sent and can't be deleted even after msf files deleted from profile.

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  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by fjmorony

fjmorony
fjmorony
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I have accounts set up in Thunderbird for: 

outlook.com (imap)
and 
tpg.com.au (POP).

There are two emails from several weeks ago stuck in the Thunderbird "outlook.com" OUTBOX folder (they were originally sent from TPG). I can re-send them using the "edit message" or "send again" options but they stay in the OUTBOX folder after they've been re-sent. I can't delete them or move them from the Thunderbird OUTBOX folder no matter what I do. I've gone to my Thunderbird profile and deleted the "Deleted" and "Trash" msf files, and recreated those files, as described in another thread dealing with problems associated with deleting messages, but this made no difference. The messages don't appear in any Thunderbird "tpg.com" folder (the tpg.com.au account doesn't have an OUTBOX folder) and they are not on either the tpg.com.au or outlook.com WEBMAIL servers (checked using a web browser). I am considering deleting the Thunderbird OUTBOX folder but I wonder if that would cause other problems. In any case I wonder if the the messages would just reappear when the OUTBOX folder is re-created. Any help would be appreciated. FJM

I have accounts set up in Thunderbird for: outlook.com (imap) and tpg.com.au (POP). There are two emails from several weeks ago stuck in the Thunderbird "outlook.com" OUTBOX folder (they were originally sent from TPG). I can re-send them using the "edit message" or "send again" options but they stay in the OUTBOX folder after they've been re-sent. I can't delete them or move them from the Thunderbird OUTBOX folder no matter what I do. I've gone to my Thunderbird profile and deleted the "Deleted" and "Trash" msf files, and recreated those files, as described in another thread dealing with problems associated with deleting messages, but this made no difference. The messages don't appear in any Thunderbird "tpg.com" folder (the tpg.com.au account doesn't have an OUTBOX folder) and they are not on either the tpg.com.au or outlook.com WEBMAIL servers (checked using a web browser). I am considering deleting the Thunderbird OUTBOX folder but I wonder if that would cause other problems. In any case I wonder if the the messages would just reappear when the OUTBOX folder is re-created. Any help would be appreciated. FJM

All Replies (2)

Zenos
Zenos
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Thunderbird's own Outbox is located under Local Folders. If you have an Outbox folder in an IMAP-connected account, I'd assume it is set up on the server and so is managed by the server and not Thunderbird.

Msf files have nothing to do with message storage. They are index files. If you want to kill a store, look for the appropriate mbox file and remove that.

So, Sent is the mbox where your sent messages are stored, and Sent.msf is its index/summary.

fjmorony
fjmorony Question owner
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Thanks for your reply Zenos.

I haven't been able to resolve this issue. Still can't clear the two emails in question from the OUTBOX in my Thunderbird account.

There are posts on the web going back five years about emails stuck in the outlook.com OUTBOX but non of the suggested solutions worked for me (or apparently anybody else).

  • I deleted the messages from OUTBOX when working "offline".
  • Dragged the messages to the DRAFT folder and deleted them from there.
  • Deleted all message files from folders named OUTBOX in my Thunderbird profile.
  • Deleted my outlook.com account from Thunderbird and re-instated it

....... but the problem remains and when I sync the account the same two emails re-appear.

Strangely, the problem only occurs in Thunderbird.

I've accessed my outlook.com account via:

  • The Windows10 Mail App (no visible OUTBOX)
  • www.outlook.com using a browser (no visible OUTBOX)
  • Android mobile "Microsoft Outlook App" (no visible OUTBOX)
  • Apple iPad mail (THERE IS A VISIBLE OUTBOX BUT IT IS EMPTY)

I'll have to give it a rest now (very late at night).

PS: Just recreated the problem by using Thunderbird to send a test message from my tpg.com.au account to my outlook.com account. Now I have THREE messages in OUTBOX that I can't clear.

I think I can stop it happening again by changing the Outgoing Server (SMTP) for the tpg.com.au account (in Thunderbird) from the POP server "mail.tpg.com.au" to the IMAP server "smtp-mail.outlook.com"

I still have to find how to clear the (now) THREE messages from OUTBOX though.

Appreciate any suggestions how to achieve this. Have to pursue it later after some sleep. FJM