NB: I have msgFilterRules.dat in Local Folders. So in Tools / FIlters, when I select "Filters For" Local Filters, there they are. But that setting doesn't stick. When I open Filters, "Filters For" is again back to ab006@

I copied msgFilterRules.dat to POP Folder. But it doesn't appear in "Filters For".

BTW When I move Inbox out of Local Folders, that Folder disappears from the pane. So I know that item refers to that file. But where is Inbox for POP? I don't see it anywhere.

I located the confound, but can't fix it. I can select folders in "Copies and Folders", but not for Inbox.

In Inbox / Properties I see Location (mailbox:///C:/Users/HP Compaq/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/annr1lls.default/Mail/pop.chebucto.ns.ca/Inbox) but it seems that's fixed.

How can I change that? where is that specified?

BenTrem said

In Inbox / Properties I see Location (mailbox:///C:/Users/HP Compaq/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/annr1lls.default/Mail/pop.chebucto.ns.ca/Inbox) but it seems that's fixed.

Oh. prefs.js

How can I change location of Inbox? That would at least be a step in the right direction.

Well ... I backed out my changes, launched from C: and found all well.

(All IMAP had disappeared ... a major problem I didn't bring up.)

Problem remains: how to move the entire file system from C: to D:? I was gob-smacked to find AppData C: referenced in prefs.js ... and not selectable.

BenTrem said

I was gob-smacked to find AppData C: referenced in prefs.js ... and not selectable.

In what context? Some add-ons use absolute pathnames, but by and large, Thunderbird itself does not.

I don't use POP any longer so can't check it myself, but there is a setting under "Advanced" in the POP account's settings to use the Global Inbox. I think moving of folders may be something of an irrelevant distraction.

I recently moved a profile from C:\Users\…\AppData to D:\ in order to shift data away from an SSD onto the HDD. (This is surprisingly hard to set up in Windows but a doddle in Linux). I had to do a global search-and-replace on prefs.js to adjust the few references to C:\Users\…\AppData to use D:\ instead - these all turned out to be all attributable to add-ons.

Zenos said

BenTrem said

I was gob-smacked to find AppData C: referenced in prefs.js ... and not selectable.

In what context? Some add-ons use absolute pathnames, but by and large, Thunderbird itself does not.

Let me proceed step by step.

• I don't know what you mean by "context". Running Win10, TBird installed on C:
• It does not? well, I sure didn't create prefs.js ... and hate the fact of having that path in there.

That path occurs a number of times; here's one of those: user_pref("mail.root.pop3", "C:\\Users\\Ben Tremblay\\AppData\\Roaming\\Thunderbird\\Profiles\\av7yf7jc.default\\Mail");

I don't use POP any longer so can't check it myself, but there is a setting under "Advanced" in the POP account's settings to use the Global Inbox. I think moving of folders may be something of an irrelevant distraction.

Nope. 1) I see no such "Advanced", and 2) in docs I keep seeing reference to "Global" but in all my years have never encountered any such. see the JPG:

I recently moved a profile from C:\Users\…\AppData to D:\ in order to shift data away from an SSD onto the HDD. (This is surprisingly hard to set up in Windows but a doddle in Linux). I had to do a global search-and-replace on prefs.js to adjust the few references to C:\Users\…\AppData to use D:\ instead - these all turned out to be all attributable to add-ons.

Which is basically what I'm trying to achieve. BUT: user_pref("mail.root.pop3", "C:\\Users\\Ben Tremblay\\AppData\\Roaming\\Thunderbird\\Profiles\\av7yf7jc.default\\Mail");

... that ain't no Addon!

NB: What I found was that Inbox in the C: AppData had been updated with POP3 downloads, but no file or folder in D: received those. Also, again: nowhere in those selectable directories is there anything to do with Inbox. (see above)

cheers /bdt

p.s. Maybe I'm totally muddled. What I know

• all files and folders copied to D. Changes to those files in TBird affected the files on D. But POP3 DL went to Mail in C:

Addendum: I did specify AppData on D; in Account Settings / Local directory.

Maybe I muddled something and pref.js paths don't apply. If they do apply, I'll try Search/Replace.

ATM I'm just relieved I didn't lose any data.

Repeat:

In Inbox / Properties I see Location (mailbox:///C:/Users/HP Compaq/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/annr1lls.default/Mail/pop.chebucto.ns.ca/Inbox) but it seems that's fixed. (By which I meant it displays in a text box but cannot be edited.)

If you have been editing the Local Directory entry then you're on your own. You may have moved mail stores to non standard locations, possibly using absolute pathnames. Thunderbird when left to itself does not store such into prefs.js.

If you want to move your personal data, move the entire profile, and then if necessary, adjust the profiles.ini file to tell Thunderbird where to look.

Adjusting the location piecemeal by use of the Local Directory box causes a lot of pain, as you appear to be discovering.

Zenos said

If you have been editing the Local Directory entry then you're on your own.

Wait. What? Total synch loss: I wrote this: "In Inbox / Properties I see Location ... it seems that's fixed. It displays in a text box but cannot be edited.'"

So I don't know what you mean here. "Editing the Local Directory"? I wrote that it cannot be edited. I have to think there's some confusion here.

You may have moved mail stores to non standard locations, possibly using absolute pathnames. Thunderbird when left to itself does not store such into prefs.js.

Well ... it seems the data here isn't entering into the game. What part of AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles is at all unusual?

If you want to move your personal data, move the entire profile, and then if necessary, adjust the profiles.ini file to tell Thunderbird where to look.

BTW profiles.ini contains only the name[s] of the Profile[s]. Nothing more.

Adjusting the location piecemeal by use of the Local Directory box causes a lot of pain, as you appear to be discovering.

Ah, okay, now I see that what I write has no impact.

I think that this is clear enough: "In Inbox / Properties I see Location ... it seems that's fixed. It displays in a text box but cannot be edited.'" How you can think I'm editing that path ... it seems we're stuck in some sort of endless loop.

"Addendum: I did specify AppData on D; in Account Settings / Local directory."

Zenos said

"Addendum: I did specify AppData on D; in Account Settings / Local directory."

I don't know what you mean by this.

Since Location did not allow me to change that ... I don't see your point.

You said it, here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1197746#answer-1058714

That sentence reads to me that you changed the entry under "Local Directory". If not, please explain better.

With reference to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1197746#answer-1058707: "Nope. 1) I see no such "Advanced", and 2) in docs I keep seeing reference to "Global" but in all my years have never encountered any such. see the JPG:"

What jpeg?

Anyway, here is the setting that relates to what you alluded to in your very first sentence:

• I didn't realize you were quoting me when you wrote only "Addendum: I did specify AppData on D;" in that comment.
• Ah, sorry, my mistake. I thought you meant "Location" under Inbox Properties.

If you have been editing the Local Directory entry then you're on your own.

• This threw me because I didn't edit anything. (Except profiles.ini to remove an outdated Profile.) I copied the whole Profile folder over to TBird AppData on D:.

Ahar! Not sure I understand all of what Global but thanks for pointing me to it! That may very well make the difference ... choosing between "Global" and "for this account".

cheers!

Well, I owe you an apology. I had a look at a working Windows profile and it too had those mail.root... entries with absolute pathnames such as "C:\\Users\\…\\AppData\Roaming\\…\\Mail…" This came as a great surprise, because I know from experience that the profile can be moved.

Maybe if the profile is moved in the formal way via the profile manager, these would be automatically updated. But I also found out that they are not essential. You can remove them and it still works.

I also found in my Linux profile that these entries were wrong (pointing to an obsolete profile) and so apparently not actually having any effect. Further evidence that these entries don't really matter.

And there are a lot of absolute pathnames here too. I don't recall seeing these before and I am wondering if it's because my profile is atypical, since it is on a separate disk and so uses the IsRelative=0 and absolute pathnames pattern in profiles.ini.

Note that in Linux, absolute pathnames aren't such a problem. All these in my prefs.js start with /home so it doesn't matter where home is; in the past I've used a separate partition, but on this machine it's on a separate physical disk. However, none of this matters, since /home is mapped (by the OS) as appropriate, regardless of the physical storage device.

I wouldn't normally advocate editing prefs.js by hand. It is a little safer to use the config editor via Tools|Options|Advanced|General→Config Editor, as it offers some guidance on what is expected or permissible. But in the case where you have a large number of these "c:\" items to attend to, it would be very much more effective to do a global search-and-replace in a good text editor. I use Notepad++ in Windows.

"I know from experience that the profile can be moved." Indeed. I've moved TBird from machine to machine a number of times but actually, thinking back, I don't recall having moved it from HD to HD ... from C: to D:

"I had a look at a working Windows profile and it too had those mail.root... entries with absolute pathnames such as "C:\\Users\\…\\AppData\Roaming\\…\\Mail…" This came as a great surprise" I spidered those files only after I saw that "Location" was fixed ... text box is not open to edit, and the simple/effective practice of selecting folders for such as Sent does not apply to Inbox.

1) Perhaps the Advanced options ("Global" or "For this acct") address that setting. I'm figuring out a non-destructive test of that. I'm going to do a clean install of TBird on D: (reasonably assuming that can be done), create a new Profile (which should point to that acct's Inbox) and then copy folders over.

2) "it too had those mail.root" ... you found that in prefs.js only, yes?

"I also found in my Linux profile that these entries were wrong" That was in prefs.js? some other file? something unique to Linux?

"in Linux, absolute pathnames aren't such a problem." No surprise, since Linux was designed by professionals who actually understand OS /*grin*/

"Tools|Options|Advanced|General→Config Editor" When I searched cfg using that Editor I found one only instance of "Inbox" and that had to do with some display option.

I used TextPad for editing ... and yes indeed, a small number of Search/Replace might very easily point to the directory I choose. Perhaps prefs.js is the key to the kingdom! I've made mistakes often enough to have "roll-back" in mind when hacking!

again: cheers

For completeness:

Global Inbox stores mail from multiple POP accounts in a single Inbox in Local Folders.

• You can have all, some or none of your POP accounts use the Global Inbox.
• Each account that does not use the Global Inbox will [etc etc etc]...
• See Virtual Folder and Unified Folders for some alternatives. They will work with both POP and IMAP accounts.

Use <br> to force line breaks.

OMG who designed this platform?! Braces [ ] for links, apostrophes for emp ... but html for breaks.
Zounds! A real dog's breakfast ... bad memories of the 1990s.
Does <p> do anything?

Yup ... para ...
Let's see with <b> and <i>: This is just silly. Yup. That too. <a href="http://youtube.com">YouTube</a> fails ... http://youtube.com ? Yup. URL works. <p>Weird.