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How do I clean-up a messy instance of Thunderbird?

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  • Last reply by Wayne Mery

BoNobody
BoNobody
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My wife has numerous Sent [x] folders, 2 instances of the same email address(I think one is local). Her inbox is now IMAP (previously pop), so I'm not concerned about loosing those. Some Sent folders are local, who knows where the deleted messages are. Another part of the problem is that she doesn't delete Deleted messages, so that is huge. I think some of this happened when she moved to a new PC running Win X, which also coincided with the transition from pop to imap. I'd like to delete & reinstall, but restoring the old profile may not help, since I want to eliminate unnecessary folders & accounts.

Thanks for assistance.

Bo

My wife has numerous Sent [x] folders, 2 instances of the same email address(I think one is local). Her inbox is now IMAP (previously pop), so I'm not concerned about loosing those. Some Sent folders are local, who knows where the deleted messages are. Another part of the problem is that she doesn't delete Deleted messages, so that is huge. I think some of this happened when she moved to a new PC running Win X, which also coincided with the transition from pop to imap. I'd like to delete & reinstall, but restoring the old profile may not help, since I want to eliminate unnecessary folders & accounts. Thanks for assistance. Bo

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Wayne Mery
Wayne Mery
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BoNobody said

I'd like to delete & reinstall, but restoring the old profile may not help, since I want to eliminate unnecessary folders & accounts.

I'm a believer in minimal effort, unless there are serious problems with the current profile...

BoNobody said

Another part of the problem is that she doesn't delete Deleted messages, so that is huge.

I'd start with this. Use right+click > Empty Trash. And if that doesn't work, select all the messages, then shift+delete. THereafter, empty trash at least once a month.

BoNobody said

My wife has numerous Sent [x] folders, 2 instances of the same email address(I think one is local). Her inbox is now IMAP (previously pop), so I'm not concerned about loosing those. Some Sent folders are local, who knows where the deleted messages are.

Next, delete all messages that don't need to be moved, especially large messages and old messages. Click the account, pick search messages - usage Age > N and then Size > N

Next, consolidate folders into the imap account