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Loss of messages after compacting

Chris4237 -  
Hello,
I have been using Thunderbird since 2008 without encountering any issues. I check it at least twice a day, I sort my incoming and sent messages into folders (except for those I need to process before sorting), and I regularly receive compaction prompts that I execute systematically.
Yesterday, after performing the compaction, I noticed that some messages had vanished:
- from my incoming messages (4 or 5);
- from the "sent" folder (4 or 5);
- from several folders; in one of them, the entire period [12/19/2018 - 01/14/2019] has disappeared, which, if I remember correctly, is about fifty messages.
I tried some corrective suggestions I found online (repairing the folders, rebuilding the global database), I deleted attachments and messages to lighten the load and number of documents. Nothing has worked.
I still hope that the missing messages still exist physically and that I will be able to recover them, but I don't see any solution for now. And unfortunately - but it will teach me... - my last disk backup dates from 12/31...
Has anyone encountered this problem and been able to restore/retrieve lost messages?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions regarding this matter.
Best regards

PS: my config: Windows 10 Pro 64bits - Firefox 64.0.2 - Thunderbird 60.4.0 32bits

3 answers

  1. Chris4237 Author
    Hello Dubcek, and thank you for this new lead. I followed it by creating a "Récup" file and pasting one of the recovered messages into it. When I open Thunderbird, I see "Récup" in my local folders (I checked that Thunderbird created a "Récup.msf"), but I don’t see any message in the right-hand message display window.
    This might also be because I don't know the details of the HTML lines that Thunderbird uses to structure messages. Below, I’ve provided a preview of what I pasted at the beginning of the Récup file, and maybe Thunderbird can't interpret it properly and can’t display it for me:
    X-Account-Key: account3
    X-UIDL: 240797.bGu4U2YaiZLXIVc3z+yKGzfgorA=
    X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
    X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
    X-Mozilla-Keys:
    Return-Path: chris4237@xxxx.fr
    -------- Original Email --------
    Subject: RE: Contact : Chris4237
    Date: 2019-01-04 16:27
    From: "redaction" <redaction@journal.fr>
    To: <chris4237@xxxx.fr>
    Hello,
    ....

    But the majority of my folder contains lines that must be expressed in a code I don't know. Example below; the first 5 lines must be HTML (I admit I know nothing about it), but the most numerous lines look like the last two:

    <td style=3D"padding-top: 20px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; =
    text-align: left;" bgcolor=3D"#ffffff" width=3D"50%"><span style=3D"margin:=
    0; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 27px; color: #33=
    3333; font-weight: normal;">  <a title=3D"www.francetelevisions.fr" hr=
    ef=3D"http://links.telespectateur-francetv.fr/wf/click?upn=3DedLkFeWO5CZbbr=
    HNfMA4YIyqukRA4Pqbq5WgK1EIM81qbFsp3rad5wFL6ULS-2BXeuPwL0a7-2Fw52gcXYiai5jfG=
    cpHBsjpBHl29Mj-2B6aKQ1gE-3D_W77bTy6YRdHySgTK0Dy8RSoD0sD8yneat5X9ZNMIGMBefk2=

    Thanks again for this lead.
    Best regards,
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    1. dubcek Contributor
      In returning to the Notepad, does the Recup file start with From - (a date time year)
      each email starts with this line?
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    2. Chris4237 Author
      Hello Dubcek,
      No, my previous test did not start with the line "From ...". I tried again using "From ..." as the first line. And indeed, I can read the message.
      But I just realized that the messages I thought I could see in the notepad are just very recent replies to some lost messages (for example: in a reply I received on 01/16/2019, I find at the end of the message my old message from 01/04/2019). After scanning the folder several times with the notepad, I have to resign myself to the fact that I have really lost part of the period [12/19/2018-01/14/2019].
      But thanks to the solution you provided me (creating the Recover folder, filled with the notepad), I restored my backup of the folder as of 12/31/2018 onto a working file, and I was able to retrieve 13 messages from the second half of December.
      In conclusion, I thank you very much, Dubcek, because I have recovered part of my messages thanks to your solution.
      And the lessons I take from all this:
      - save my data more often;
      - no longer automatically delete messages from Free, La Poste, Hotmail, and Gmail mailboxes that I synchronize under Thunderbird: I will periodically clean up, but it is better to have them in double;
      - systematically copy myself on the messages I send, to keep a copy.

      Thanks again!
      Best regards,
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    3. dubcek Contributor
      - always copy me on messages I send, to keep a copy.
      in Account settings -> account name -> Copies and folders, see When sending messages, automatically place a copy in ...
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    4. Chris4237 Author
      Hello Dubcek,
      Thank you for this new solution!
      Best regards
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