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Groups > alt.comp.software.thunderbird > #21186

Re: Message Filter List Import

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On Wed, 7/1/2026 9:41 AM, John C. wrote:
> jaugustine@verizon.net wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>>      If I install Thunderbird on another PC, can I Import the Message Filter
>> list from an Exported profile Zip file I created on my other PC?
>>
>>     Thank you in advance, John
> 
> Coincidence: I just went through this issue this morning, because I
> created a new newsfeed account (Solani) as a backup for when
> Eternal-September servers fail. So if you're talking about filters for
> Usenet newsgroups, I can tell you that they are stored here:
> 
> "C:\Users\(Windows user account
> name)\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\(Thunderbird profile
> name)\News\(usenet account server name)"
> 
> Contrary to popular belief, filter rules are NOT stored in the
> msgFilterRules.dat file. Instead, they are stored in the .dat files for
> each newsgroup that you're subscribed to in that newsfeed. For example,
> the filter rules for this newsgroup are in:
> 
> "C:\Users\(Windows user account
> name)\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\(Thunderbird profile
> name)\News\(usenet account server name)\alt.comp.software.thunderbird.dat"
> 
> If you don't believe me, close TB and open that file in a text editor.
> 
> 
> What I did this morning was to copy those .dat files (four of them, one
> for each newsgroup that I'm subscribed to) from my
> news.eternal-september.org folder to my news.solani.org. Then I
> restarted TB and *VOILA* there were the rules in my Solani account. I
> even tried the filters and yes, they worked.
> 
> I see no reason why this technique shouldn't work for you as long as you
> copy the correct files.
> 
> 

It's possible the filter files have "scope".

A file at the newsgroup level, affects one newsgroup.

A file at the news server level, affects all newsgroups under it.

A file at the profile level, affects all servers/newsgroups under it.

You would expect the file extension to be .dat , but have
a look around. The "empty" files of that genera, tended
to be 27 bytes long.

The trick then, is for you to examine the filter design dialog and
see what options it has for defining the scope. Whether the dialog
only allows individual newsgroups, or it has other entries
(like the server names) in it.

We can make up one. On the AIOE server, I find a lot of annoying
posts from ServerName1 and ServerName2. By using a filter at
server scope, all the newsgroups on the AIOE server, have the
servername1 and servername2 items removed.

News\nntp.aioe.org
   msgFilterRules.dat

version="9"
logging="yes"
                                                     <=== (added for legibility here)
name="ServerName1.org"
enabled="no"                                              (filter was switched off, by me)
type="20"
action="Delete"
condition="AND (\"path\",contains,servername1.org)"
                                                      <=== (added for legibility here)
name="ServerName2.org"
enabled="no"                                               (filter was switched off, by me)
type="20"
action="Delete"
condition="AND (\"path\",contains,servername2.org)"

That's not a good filter, but I took a look and
that's about the only "live" sample I could find
of a server-level filter. This would be considered
a "demo" filter, for testing at one time.

I also had a filter defined, when a bridged BBS went
nuts and started looping posts into USENET, and so I
had to remove that garbage for a few days, until the
bridge operator pulled the plug for good.

That's an example of how a user might have set something
like that up. AIOE actually had some path preload agreements
with certain "sewer" servers, and you didn't even need to be
filtering them with your own filter. AIOE set this up, a few months
before "something happened" to the AIOE server. It was "blamed on
a RAID issue", but I don't think that is what really happened.

   Paul

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Message Filter List Import jaugustine@verizon.net - 2026-06-28 11:30 -0400
  Re: Message Filter List Import Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-06-28 16:49 +0100
  Re: Message Filter List Import "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-06-28 17:57 +0200
  Re: Message Filter List Import "Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> - 2026-06-29 00:44 +0800
    Re: Message Filter List Import jaugustine@verizon.net - 2026-06-30 12:03 -0400
  Re: Message Filter List Import "John C." <r9jmg0@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-01 06:41 -0700
    Re: Message Filter List Import Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-01 10:30 -0400
      Re: Message Filter List Import "John C." <r9jmg0@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-02 04:20 -0700
        Re: Message Filter List Import "John C." <r9jmg0@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-02 04:25 -0700
    Re: Message Filter List Import sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2026-07-01 09:37 -0500
      Re: Message Filter List Import "John C." <r9jmg0@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-02 04:27 -0700
    Re: Message Filter List Import Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-07-01 17:39 +0100
      Re: Message Filter List Import "John C." <r9jmg0@yahoo.com> - 2026-07-02 04:27 -0700

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