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One of my local folders is suddenly showing a BLANK location - as a result it shows blank. rebuild doesn't help but SEARCH finds the messages but can't open

MichaelKerwin
MichaelKerwin
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All of the messages still exist on the computer You can search and find them, but clicking on them won't open them HOWEVER the folder displays blank and doesn't display any of the subfolders IF I try to add the subfolder, it says it already exists

I'm fairly certain all that is wrong is that the FOLDER LOCATION is blank - not pointing to the actual local folder HOW DO I EDIT THAT TO POINT TO THE FOLDER ?

see attached picture

thanks !

Mike

All of the messages still exist on the computer You can search and find them, but clicking on them won't open them HOWEVER the folder displays blank and doesn't display any of the subfolders IF I try to add the subfolder, it says it already exists I'm fairly certain all that is wrong is that the FOLDER LOCATION is blank - not pointing to the actual local folder HOW DO I EDIT THAT TO POINT TO THE FOLDER ? see attached picture thanks ! Mike

Chosen solution

Here's what I just did that worked

Browse to where the files are being stored (e.g. C:/USERS/MICHAEL/APPDATA/ROAMING/THUNDERBIRD/PROFILES/L9H3v5GO.default/MAIL/LOCAL FOLDERS

create the same folder that is messed up but with an underscore in front of it ... e.g. I created _PERSONAL

copy ALL of the files in PERSONAL over to _PERSONAL

delete the files that have the .MSF extension (these are the index files, which thunderbird will rebuild from the data files if they don't exist)

then scroll through the _PERSONAL files in thunderbird, and it should rebuild the index, creating a proper .MSF file in the process, and all of the messages should be there

I suppose at that point you can DELETE the PERSONAL folder which is an orphan, or just leave it as a backed up snapshot in time

Hope that helps

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All Replies (2)

markbsimon
markbsimon
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I have the same problem my search results are shown but when I attempt to open the item I get this Thunderbird user guide page (See attached image)

MichaelKerwin
MichaelKerwin Question owner
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Chosen Solution

Here's what I just did that worked

Browse to where the files are being stored (e.g. C:/USERS/MICHAEL/APPDATA/ROAMING/THUNDERBIRD/PROFILES/L9H3v5GO.default/MAIL/LOCAL FOLDERS

create the same folder that is messed up but with an underscore in front of it ... e.g. I created _PERSONAL

copy ALL of the files in PERSONAL over to _PERSONAL

delete the files that have the .MSF extension (these are the index files, which thunderbird will rebuild from the data files if they don't exist)

then scroll through the _PERSONAL files in thunderbird, and it should rebuild the index, creating a proper .MSF file in the process, and all of the messages should be there

I suppose at that point you can DELETE the PERSONAL folder which is an orphan, or just leave it as a backed up snapshot in time

Hope that helps