Import email files from computer into Thunderbird
Gord McFee
but I need help.
Recently, I replied to a person's email and then wanted to file the
email in her folder. I filed the incoming, and noticed that the folder
was misnamed. I right-clicked the folder, changed the name and then
filed the second name into the folder. Except that it isn't there.
When I looked at the folder with TB closed, it has 16 emails. When I
look at the folder inside TB, it has 15. The missing one is the one I
tried to file after changing the folder name.
So I copied all the emails from the folder in Windows Explorer, put them
in a temporary directory and deleted the folder.
Now I don't know how to get the messages back into Thunderbird. They
are not in mbox format, which I remember, but rather in a folder with a
.mozmsgs extension and the individual emails have names like this:
4D790F28.5080008%40rogers.com.wdseml
I can open the emails with Notepad, but can't figure out how to get them
int Thunderbird. I've checked Mozillazine and Googled, but no love.
Can anyone help? TIA.
--
Gord McFee
Terry R.
Hi Gord,
You state you placed the email into a folder, then changed the folder
name. What do you mean by "...and then filed the second name into the
folder"?
If you rename the folder back to what it was and restart TB, does the
email show up?
It sounds like an add-on you have is creating a separate file for each
email. Is that correct? You could try renaming the single .wdseml file
to a .eml extension and see if it opens in TB that way.
Terry R.
--
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
Gord McFee
> On 3/10/2011 10:56 AM On a whim, Gord McFee pounded out on the keyboard
>
>> It's been long time since I've done this and I may have lost my mind,
>> but I need help.
>>
>> Recently, I replied to a person's email and then wanted to file the
>> email in her folder. I filed the incoming, and noticed that the folder
>> was misnamed. I right-clicked the folder, changed the name and then
>> filed the second name into the folder. Except that it isn't there.
>> When I looked at the folder with TB closed, it has 16 emails. When I
>> look at the folder inside TB, it has 15. The missing one is the one I
>> tried to file after changing the folder name.
>>
>> So I copied all the emails from the folder in Windows Explorer, put them
>> in a temporary directory and deleted the folder.
>>
>> Now I don't know how to get the messages back into Thunderbird. They
>> are not in mbox format, which I remember, but rather in a folder with a
>> .mozmsgs extension and the individual emails have names like this:
>> 4D790F28.5080008%40rogers.com.wdseml
>>
>> I can open the emails with Notepad, but can't figure out how to get them
>> int Thunderbird. I've checked Mozillazine and Googled, but no love.
>>
>> Can anyone help? TIA.
>>
>
> Hi Gord,
>
> You state you placed the email into a folder, then changed the folder
> name. What do you mean by "...and then filed the second name into the
> folder"?
Say the folder was named Goord McFee. I placed the first email into
that folder via right-click on the email and then realized the folder
should be Gord McFee. So I renamed the folder to Gord McFee via
right-click on the folder -> Properties. Then I put the second email
into Gord McFee via right-click on the email.
> If you rename the folder back to what it was and restart TB, does the
> email show up?
I deleted the folder from TB and put all the emails into a folder on my
hard drive. And now I can't get it back into Thunderbird.
> It sounds like an add-on you have is creating a separate file for each
> email. Is that correct? You could try renaming the single .wdseml file
> to a .eml extension and see if it opens in TB that way.
Don't know that I can do that.
Thanks, Terry. Any other ideas?
--
Gord McFee
Terry R.
> On 3/10/11 2:06 PM, Terry R. wrote:
>
>>>
>> Hi Gord,
>>
>> You state you placed the email into a folder, then changed the folder
>> name. What do you mean by "...and then filed the second name into the
>> folder"?
>
> Say the folder was named Goord McFee. I placed the first email into
> that folder via right-click on the email and then realized the folder
> should be Gord McFee. So I renamed the folder to Gord McFee via
> right-click on the folder -> Properties. Then I put the second email
> into Gord McFee via right-click on the email.
>
Okay, so a 2nd email was added.
>> If you rename the folder back to what it was and restart TB, does the
>> email show up?
>
> I deleted the folder from TB and put all the emails into a folder on my
> hard drive. And now I can't get it back into Thunderbird.
How did you do that precisely?
>
>> It sounds like an add-on you have is creating a separate file for each
>> email. Is that correct? You could try renaming the single .wdseml file
>> to a .eml extension and see if it opens in TB that way.
>
> Don't know that I can do that.
>
This is what you said above: "Now I don't know how to get the messages
back into Thunderbird. They are
not in mbox format, which I remember, but rather in a folder with a
.mozmsgs
extension and the individual emails have names like this:
4D790F28.5080008%40rogers.com.wdseml"
If you navigate to the folder and click on one of the files and press
Ctrl-C to copy the file and Press Ctrl-V to paste a copy of it, then
click on the copy and press F2 and change the extension from wdseml to
eml. Then double click on the file and see if it opens in TB.
Terry R.
> If you navigate to the folder and click on one of the files and press
> Ctrl-C to copy the file and Press Ctrl-V to paste a copy of it, then
> click on the copy and press F2 and change the extension from wdseml to
> eml. Then double click on the file and see if it opens in TB.
>
>
>
Doing this in Explorer I failed to mention.
Gord McFee
> On 3/10/2011 11:18 AM On a whim, Gord McFee pounded out on the
> keyboard
>
>> On 3/10/11 2:06 PM, Terry R. wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>> Hi Gord,
>>>
>>> You state you placed the email into a folder, then changed the
>>> folder name. What do you mean by "...and then filed the second
>>> name into the folder"?
>>
>> Say the folder was named Goord McFee. I placed the first email
>> into that folder via right-click on the email and then realized the
>> folder should be Gord McFee. So I renamed the folder to Gord McFee
>> via right-click on the folder -> Properties. Then I put the
>> second email into Gord McFee via right-click on the email.
>
> Okay, so a 2nd email was added.
Well actually a second email was moved to the folder, which by this time
had been renamed. I probably shouldn't have renamed it between moves.
>>> If you rename the folder back to what it was and restart TB, does
>>> the email show up?
>>
>> I deleted the folder from TB and put all the emails into a folder
>> on my hard drive. And now I can't get it back into Thunderbird.
>
> How did you do that precisely?
I closed TB, found the folder, cut it and pasted it into a temp folder
on my hard drive.
>>> It sounds like an add-on you have is creating a separate file for
>>> each email. Is that correct? You could try renaming the single
>>> .wdseml file to a .eml extension and see if it opens in TB that
>>> way.
>>
>> Don't know that I can do that.
>
> This is what you said above: "Now I don't know how to get the
> messages back into Thunderbird. They are not in mbox format, which I
> remember, but rather in a folder with a ..mozmsgs extension and the
> individual emails have names like this:
> 4D790F28.5080008%40rogers.com.wdseml"
>
> If you navigate to the folder and click on one of the files and press
> Ctrl-C to copy the file and Press Ctrl-V to paste a copy of it, then
> click on the copy and press F2 and change the extension from wdseml
> to eml. Then double click on the file and see if it opens in TB.
That did the trick. I was able to recover all the emails. MANY THANKS
- YES, I'M SHOUTING! :-)
Not sure where my brain has been but I realize I am clueless about the
file structure in TB these days.
Thanks again, Terry.
--
Best regards
Gord McFee
Terry R.
> On 3/10/11 2:30 PM, Terry R. wrote:
>
>> On 3/10/2011 11:18 AM On a whim, Gord McFee pounded out on the
>> keyboard
>>
>>> On 3/10/11 2:06 PM, Terry R. wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Gord,
>>>>
>>>> You state you placed the email into a folder, then changed the
>>>> folder name. What do you mean by "...and then filed the second
>>>> name into the folder"?
>>> Say the folder was named Goord McFee. I placed the first email
>>> into that folder via right-click on the email and then realized the
>>> folder should be Gord McFee. So I renamed the folder to Gord McFee
>>> via right-click on the folder -> Properties. Then I put the
>>> second email into Gord McFee via right-click on the email.
>> Okay, so a 2nd email was added.
>
> Well actually a second email was moved to the folder, which by this time
> had been renamed. I probably shouldn't have renamed it between moves.
>
>>>> If you rename the folder back to what it was and restart TB, does
>>>> the email show up?
>>> I deleted the folder from TB and put all the emails into a folder
>>> on my hard drive. And now I can't get it back into Thunderbird.
>> How did you do that precisely?
>
> I closed TB, found the folder, cut it and pasted it into a temp folder
> on my hard drive.
Knowing this I would have suggested you copy that folder and paste it
back into your TB profile. That might have done it, don't know.
>
>>>> It sounds like an add-on you have is creating a separate file for
>>>> each email. Is that correct? You could try renaming the single
>>>> .wdseml file to a .eml extension and see if it opens in TB that
>>>> way.
>>> Don't know that I can do that.
>> This is what you said above: "Now I don't know how to get the
>> messages back into Thunderbird. They are not in mbox format, which I
>> remember, but rather in a folder with a ..mozmsgs extension and the
>> individual emails have names like this:
>> 4D790F28.5080008%40rogers.com.wdseml"
>>
>> If you navigate to the folder and click on one of the files and press
>> Ctrl-C to copy the file and Press Ctrl-V to paste a copy of it, then
>> click on the copy and press F2 and change the extension from wdseml
>> to eml. Then double click on the file and see if it opens in TB.
>
> That did the trick. I was able to recover all the emails. MANY THANKS
> - YES, I'M SHOUTING! :-)
>
> Not sure where my brain has been but I realize I am clueless about the
> file structure in TB these days.
>
> Thanks again, Terry.
>
I'm still curious as to why all your email isn't in a single file and is
in separate files AND in a .mozmsgs folder.
But for now, it sounds like you're okay. Glad to hear Gord.
Gord McFee
It *is* strange. When I look more closely at the directory structure, I
get this:
People is a folder within Local Folders. Gord is its subfolder.
Within Gord, there are subfolders named Alice, Jerry and George. If I
open Windows Explorer to Gord, I have folders called Alice.mozmsgs,
Jerry.mozmsgs and George.mozmsgs. Alice.mozmsgs has all its emails
inside, each with a wdseml extension. Same for Jerry and George. *In
addition*, there is a file called Alice (it's an mbox file, I was able
to view it with Notepad) with no extension and an Alice.msf file. Same
for Jerry and George.
So it appears I have the emails twice, once separate in the mozmsgs
folder and once "together" in the mbox file.
This is very strange. How it got that way I don't know, unless Windows
7 is the culprit.
Checking Mozillazine, it says:
<quote>
*.wdseml
Copies of messages (its actually a .eml file) created by Windows Search
Integration (requires Vista or Windows 7). They're stored in .mozmsg
directories.
</quote>
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_folders_in_the_profile_-_Thunderbird
Guess I had just better leave it as is.
> But for now, it sounds like you're okay. Glad to hear Gord.
Thanks again for your help.
--
Gord McFee
Terry R.
Ah, you DO have the mbox files also. In your post, you said there
wasn't any. Okay.
These folders and files are created by TB that allows Windows Search in
Vista/Win7 to index them. Apparently you can prevent them by excluding
that file type and/or the Thunderbird message file directories from the
Windows indexing settings in the Control Panel.
You're welcome Gord,