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email folders

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  email folders knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-30 11:52 -0400
    Re: email folders dillinger <dillinger@not.invalid> - 2026-07-30 17:59 +0200
      Re: email folders knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-30 12:18 -0400
        Re: email folders dillinger <dillinger@not.invalid> - 2026-07-30 18:52 +0200
        Re: email folders Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-30 13:17 -0400
          Re: email folders knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-30 13:43 -0400
            Re: email folders dillinger <dillinger@not.invalid> - 2026-07-30 20:10 +0200

#21604 — email folders

In looking at my current profile, it looks like Thunderbird is now 
keeping its email as individual files in folder in this format 
stuff.mozmsgs.

Are these in any way related to the old method of handling files?

Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and 
archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.)

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#21605

Op 30-07-2026 om 17:52 schreef knuttle:
> In looking at my current profile, it looks like Thunderbird is now
> keeping its email as individual files in folder in this format
> stuff.mozmsgs.
> 
> Are these in any way related to the old method of handling files?
> 
> Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and
> archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.)

NO, if you don't have any problems, stay out of there!

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#21607

On 07/30/2026 11:59 AM, dillinger wrote:
> Op 30-07-2026 om 17:52 schreef knuttle:
>> In looking at my current profile, it looks like Thunderbird is now
>> keeping its email as individual files in folder in this format
>> stuff.mozmsgs.
>>
>> Are these in any way related to the old method of handling files?
>>
>> Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and
>> archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.)
> 
> NO, if you don't have any problems, stay out of there!
Working with the files in this directory has gotten me out of many 
problems.  Sometimes it is during a new instalation on a new computer. 
Sometimes, it occurred when I wanted to transfer my profile to a 
different computer but did not want a bunch of personnal files, sometime 
adding a lost directory.

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#21611

Op 30-07-2026 om 18:18 schreef knuttle:
> On 07/30/2026 11:59 AM, dillinger wrote:
>> Op 30-07-2026 om 17:52 schreef knuttle:
>>> In looking at my current profile, it looks like Thunderbird is now
>>> keeping its email as individual files in folder in this format
>>> stuff.mozmsgs.
>>>
>>> Are these in any way related to the old method of handling files?
>>>
>>> Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and
>>> archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.)
>>
>> NO, if you don't have any problems, stay out of there!
> Working with the files in this directory has gotten me out of many
> problems.  Sometimes it is during a new instalation on a new computer.
> Sometimes, it occurred when I wanted to transfer my profile to a
> different computer but did not want a bunch of personnal files, sometime
> adding a lost directory.
Yes, but then you had problems, and you were instructed how to fix them.
Now you are just guessing and you want to delete random files to do
what? Save a few megabytes?
Stay out of there if you don’t know what you're doing.
*.mozmsgs are created by your OS when you allow it to search your mail.

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#21612

On Thu, 7/30/2026 12:18 PM, knuttle wrote:
> On 07/30/2026 11:59 AM, dillinger wrote:
>> Op 30-07-2026 om 17:52 schreef knuttle:
>>> In looking at my current profile, it looks like Thunderbird is now
>>> keeping its email as individual files in folder in this format
>>> stuff.mozmsgs.
>>>
>>> Are these in any way related to the old method of handling files?
>>>
>>> Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and
>>> archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.)
>>
>> NO, if you don't have any problems, stay out of there!
> Working with the files in this directory has gotten me out of many problems.  Sometimes it is during a new instalation on a new computer. Sometimes, it occurred when I wanted to transfer my profile to a different computer but did not want a bunch of personnal files, sometime adding a lost directory.

https://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_folders_in_the_profile_-_Thunderbird

*.mozeml   Each file is a partial copy (up to 20kb) of a message in the mail folder,
           stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by the optional
           Spotlight Integration component under OSX. It's deleted when
           the message in the mbox is deleted. [15]

*.wdseml   Each file is a partial copy (up to 49KB) of a message in the mail folder,
           stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by Windows Search Integration
           (requires Vista or a later version of Windows). They're actually renamed
           .eml files. You can disable this feature by unchecking

                 Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> System Integration ->
                     "Allow Windows Search to search messages". [16][17]

It is likely better to find the setting that controls
their generation, and turn it off.

As for Windows Search Integration, some people in the past turned that off
in the Windows "Indexing Options" control panel, by making an exclusion
for part of the Thunderbird profile. The complaint at the time, was the
excess scanning Windows was doing, was slowing things down. This should
be less of an issue, with SSD-based modern computers. They have a lot
more bandwidth for endless scanning to occur. Some other OSes,
don't scan quite like that. Even GLODA can be reading and processing
email files (another potential scanner). There are plenty of
opportunities for the "race enthusiast" to "tune their ride"
and stop a lot of this nonsense.

*******

For something like the abcd1234.default\cache2\entries , that is
for HTML processing (it's a browser-like cache, Firefox has the same
cache2). The design of this can change a bit, between releases.
When Thunderbird or Firefox is shut down, you can clean out Cache2
as you see fit (but this is pointless, as it will just fill up again).

But cleaning would no longer be necessary, if
you allocate some "memory" to do the job instead. Enabling the top
two entries in the example, is good if you have the RAM to spare for it.
Most of my machines have gobs of RAM, and only one machine has
pretty miserable RAM specs (3GB! the laptop my sister gave me...) .
That laptop was a prize in a contest, and the prize organizer
"spared no expense" :-) I ended up with the laptop. I do test
installs on it, to see just how marginal the low end machines
are for any of Microsofts wonderful maintenance strategies.

https://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.cache.memory.capacity

      browser.cache.memory.capacity
      browser.cache.memory.enable

      browser.cache.disk.capacity  \___ Normally, these might be in usage, but
      browser.cache.disk.enable    /    you can change it so RAM is used instead of cache2 dir.

I agree with Dillinger, that randomly deleting stuff isn't
a particularly good strategy. It's better to calm the machine,
using Settings in Thunderbird. It would be nice if Thunderbird
had a "tuning strategy" document (and maybe that info is gathered
in one doc), that addressed best practices for setup for the program.

One egregious situation, is both Windows Defender and the Search Indexer,
can be reading .eml files, at the same time that Thunderbird is doing that,
and that's quite a load for a low end machine. And especially so,
if you're still using a conventional HDD for the storage solution.
You can notch out both the Search Indexer, as well as define an
Exclusion folder definition for Windows Defender, if your Profile
folder is ginormous and all the "disk" activity is sucking all the air
out of the room :-) That way, the Search Indexer is supposed to
leave the Profile alone, and Windows Defender (for better or worse)
stops scanning your .eml files. I've only run into one person,
who had this complaint about Thunderbird. Others may have the
situation, but have chosen to not complain about it.

   Paul

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#21613

On 07/30/2026 1:17 PM, Paul wrote:
> On Thu, 7/30/2026 12:18 PM, knuttle wrote:
>> On 07/30/2026 11:59 AM, dillinger wrote:
>>> Op 30-07-2026 om 17:52 schreef knuttle:
>>>> In looking at my current profile, it looks like Thunderbird is now
>>>> keeping its email as individual files in folder in this format
>>>> stuff.mozmsgs.
>>>>
>>>> Are these in any way related to the old method of handling files?
>>>>
>>>> Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and
>>>> archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.)
>>>
>>> NO, if you don't have any problems, stay out of there!
>> Working with the files in this directory has gotten me out of many problems.  Sometimes it is during a new instalation on a new computer. Sometimes, it occurred when I wanted to transfer my profile to a different computer but did not want a bunch of personnal files, sometime adding a lost directory.
> 
> https://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_folders_in_the_profile_-_Thunderbird
> 
> *.mozeml   Each file is a partial copy (up to 20kb) of a message in the mail folder,
>             stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by the optional
>             Spotlight Integration component under OSX. It's deleted when
>             the message in the mbox is deleted. [15]
> 
> *.wdseml   Each file is a partial copy (up to 49KB) of a message in the mail folder,
>             stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by Windows Search Integration
>             (requires Vista or a later version of Windows). They're actually renamed
>             .eml files. You can disable this feature by unchecking
> 
>                   Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> System Integration ->
>                       "Allow Windows Search to search messages". [16][17]
> 
> It is likely better to find the setting that controls
> their generation, and turn it off.
> 
> As for Windows Search Integration, some people in the past turned that off
> in the Windows "Indexing Options" control panel, by making an exclusion
> for part of the Thunderbird profile. The complaint at the time, was the
> excess scanning Windows was doing, was slowing things down. This should
> be less of an issue, with SSD-based modern computers. They have a lot
> more bandwidth for endless scanning to occur. Some other OSes,
> don't scan quite like that. Even GLODA can be reading and processing
> email files (another potential scanner). There are plenty of
> opportunities for the "race enthusiast" to "tune their ride"
> and stop a lot of this nonsense.
> 
> *******
> 
> For something like the abcd1234.default\cache2\entries , that is
> for HTML processing (it's a browser-like cache, Firefox has the same
> cache2). The design of this can change a bit, between releases.
> When Thunderbird or Firefox is shut down, you can clean out Cache2
> as you see fit (but this is pointless, as it will just fill up again).
> 
> But cleaning would no longer be necessary, if
> you allocate some "memory" to do the job instead. Enabling the top
> two entries in the example, is good if you have the RAM to spare for it.
> Most of my machines have gobs of RAM, and only one machine has
> pretty miserable RAM specs (3GB! the laptop my sister gave me...) .
> That laptop was a prize in a contest, and the prize organizer
> "spared no expense" :-) I ended up with the laptop. I do test
> installs on it, to see just how marginal the low end machines
> are for any of Microsofts wonderful maintenance strategies.
> 
> https://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.cache.memory.capacity
> 
>        browser.cache.memory.capacity
>        browser.cache.memory.enable
> 
>        browser.cache.disk.capacity  \___ Normally, these might be in usage, but
>        browser.cache.disk.enable    /    you can change it so RAM is used instead of cache2 dir.
> 
> I agree with Dillinger, that randomly deleting stuff isn't
> a particularly good strategy. It's better to calm the machine,
> using Settings in Thunderbird. It would be nice if Thunderbird
> had a "tuning strategy" document (and maybe that info is gathered
> in one doc), that addressed best practices for setup for the program.
> 
> One egregious situation, is both Windows Defender and the Search Indexer,
> can be reading .eml files, at the same time that Thunderbird is doing that,
> and that's quite a load for a low end machine. And especially so,
> if you're still using a conventional HDD for the storage solution.
> You can notch out both the Search Indexer, as well as define an
> Exclusion folder definition for Windows Defender, if your Profile
> folder is ginormous and all the "disk" activity is sucking all the air
> out of the room :-) That way, the Search Indexer is supposed to
> leave the Profile alone, and Windows Defender (for better or worse)
> stops scanning your .eml files. I've only run into one person,
> who had this complaint about Thunderbird. Others may have the
> situation, but have chosen to not complain about it.
> 
>     Paul
Thanks for the information and for recognizing that I do have experience 
with Thunderbird.

My question was because I am not in the profile everyday making changes 
and the mozmsgs files were new to me.

I have been using the Thunderbird since I converted from Netscape a 
couple of decades ago.  I know what the individual files in the profile 
are and know what can be deleted and what can not be delete. I know that 
any changes in the profile should be done when Thunderbird is not 
running.  I know about Calendar-data and Chrome, and know how to make 
changes in these files.

I wonder how many of the people on this group thing of Netscape as 
prehistory.

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#21616

Op 30-07-2026 om 19:43 schreef knuttle:
> I have been using the Thunderbird since I converted from Netscape a
> couple of decades ago.  I know what the individual files in the profile
> are and know what can be deleted and what can not be delete.

And yet you ask this:
> Can the Stuff.  and stuff.msf be deleted with out loosing old and
> archived email?  (Please consider "Stuff" as a generic name.) 

Don't blame me for treating you as a noob.

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