[sally4]

Every once in a while an email in my Thunderbird inbox disappears into a mysterious folder called "2019", a folder that is not in my folder list. What happens is that I read an email, close it, then, when wanting to check it again later, find that it is gone. Not in the inbox, not in the trash. If I use the search option, I find that the email is still there in a location listed as "2019". I can open the email it from the search facility but haven't found a way to open folder 2019.  

 

Folder 2019 is not in the folder list. It isn't a subfolder. I'd really like to know what else has disappeared into that mysterious black hole. I'm positive there are some important emails lurking there. I would very much like to refile them in the appropriate subject folders so that I can find them when I need them.

 

Any suggestions as to how to locate this mysterious folder are appreciated. Thank you!  

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Look inside (expand) .... Archives .... there is a 2019 folder in there (or at least there is in my copy of Thunderbird)

 

The reason the e-mails have moved there from your Inbox is probably because you have inadvertently clicked on the Archive button when opening or reading them. It sounds unlikely I know, but if you're not paying attention it's surprisingly easy to do.

[Gary R]

Look inside (expand) .... Archives .... there is a 2019 folder in there (or at least there is in my copy of Thunderbird)

 

The reason the e-mails have moved there from your Inbox is probably because you have inadvertently clicked on the Archive button when opening or reading them. It sounds unlikely I know, but if you're not paying attention it's surprisingly easy to do.

[sally4]

Thank you. I thought of that - there is nothing in the archives. Still, it does seem likely that I accidentally clicked on something, tho can't imagine what. 

[Gary R]

My advice is, the next time one of your e-mails disappears into folder 2019 have a look right away, to see if it is in the 2019 folder in Archives.

 

If it is, then problem solved. If not, then we'll obviously have to re-think things.

 

The fact that there's nothing in your Archives at the moment could just be that you've emptied the folder in some way, in the time between your e-mails disappearing, and the time you checked it.

[sally4]

Best Answer

I'm not sure how many things disappeared into folder 2019.That is one of the reasons I am so eager to find it. However, this week, when an email arrived, then disappeared in a flash, I immediately checked everything, including archives. As before, I could locate the email by using something I knew about the message, in this case the sender. The message came up in the search list, which doesn't say anything about where it is found. But clicking on the message brought up a list with locations of the half-dozen "reply all" replies to a conversation started by somebody other than me. The missing email is in that list, with its location listed as 2019. All the other messages in the group are listed as location "inbox". 

 

I tried "repair folder" the first time this happened. I can't recall just which folder - probably the inbox - but nothing changed. 

 

Archives is an empty folder. I tried repairing it tonight, but nothing changed. 

[sally4]

Thank you for the advice. I tried "archives" again today and this time found a subfolder "2019" with all the missing emails.

[Gary R]

Glad you were able to find your missing e-mails, thanks for letting me know.