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Inbox messages periodically go to trash folder on their own.

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  • Nuɖoɖo mlɔetɔ Toad-Hall

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I keep most of my incoming emails for a long period of time. But lately I have noticed that several emails from the inbox get transferred to the trash folder without prompting or my input. This is very disconcerting since I try to empty the trash folder regularly and do not want to lose important emails inadvertently. I receive regular notices via the Thunderbird system to "compact" my emails to save space and am wondering if this plays a factor. I also use AVG antivirus, but can not see how it comes into play. Any help would be appreciated.

I keep most of my incoming emails for a long period of time. But lately I have noticed that several emails from the inbox get transferred to the trash folder without prompting or my input. This is very disconcerting since I try to empty the trash folder regularly and do not want to lose important emails inadvertently. I receive regular notices via the Thunderbird system to "compact" my emails to save space and am wondering if this plays a factor. I also use AVG antivirus, but can not see how it comes into play. Any help would be appreciated.

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re : I receive regular notices via the Thunderbird system to "compact" my emails to save space

Everytime you delete an email, it is hidden and marked as deleted. It is not actually deleted from the original file. This means if you inadvertantly delete in error, you can rescue the email and put it back. Note I say 'file'. Emails are not stored separately, they are stored in a mbox text file, one after the other in the order downloaded. So all emails in 'Inbox' are actually in one simple file which may be very large by now. It could be littered with hidden marked as deleted emails.

Compacting the folder removes all of those hidden marked as deleted emails and tidies up the file reducing it's size.

Folders that need regular compacting are usually, Inbox, drafts and Junk.

In your situation, weird things are starting to occur, so it is possible your Inbox file may be corrupted. Usually, you do not need to Empty a folder before compacting, but your case is different and you do not want to lose emails.

Please do the following:

  • Create some suitably named folders.
  • Move all good wanted emails from the Inbox and put them into suitable folders for long term storage.
  • Delete anything you do not want.

When Inbox is empty....

  • Right click on Inbox and select 'Compact'

Suggest you also..

  • Right click on Drafts folder and select 'Compact'
  • Right click on Junk and select 'Empty Junk'
  • Right click on Junk and select 'Compact'
  • Right click on 'Deleted/Trash' folder and select 'Empty Deleted'

Advise you read some info on Compacting Foldres to understand what this means and how important it is in maintaing a healthy thunderbird.

Toad-Hall trɔe