1545708 - Gmail.com messages visible in web interface which are NOT visible in Thunderbird, even tho' TB 'Search Messages (on Server)' CAN see the messages.

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Untriaged, defect)

Description

[Mike Ramey]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/73.0.3683.103 Safari/537.36

Steps to reproduce:

(1) I discover the existence of "TB-INVISIBLE" messages when (for instance) I select all messages in a folder and "M" them until they are all marked 'READ', but the bottom-right counts show 1 or more 'Unread' messages which I cannot see in TB.

(2) And, if - in TB - I then 'select-all' messages in the folder and "M" them until they are all marked 'UN-READ', then the bottom-right couns show different numbers, now "Selected: 133 Total: 134" in my folder "(BANK~CLEARED)". So TB selects 'all' 133 "TB-VISIBLE" messages and reports "Total: 134" messages, including 1 "TB-INVISIBLE" message.

(3) After I discover the "TB-INVISIBLE" UN-READ message (in the Gmail web interface) and use its 'Subject' line ($14.40 Little Uncle) in the TB 'Search Messages (on Server)' [separate window] function ... this search finds the "TB-INVISIBLE" message and reports its 'Location' in the "(BANK~CLEARED)" directory/folder/label.

(4) SUMMARY & IMPACT: This bug in TB is annoying and it seriously weakens my trust in the accuracy and integrity of TB for keeping track of my email messages. I hate web-mail interfaces! But can I trust Thunderbird ???

--Mike Ramey

Actual results:

Lost / Missing / INVISIBLE messages!

Expected results:

NOT THAT !!!

Comment 1

[Mike Ramey]

(5) I just discovered that ... when viewing the "(BANK~CLEARED)" folder in TB, I cannot see this "TB-INVISIBLE" UN-READ message. BUT ... when I paste the message 'Subject' ($14.40 Little Uncle) in the 'Quick Filter' search box ... the 'Quick Filter' search can find the message --- even tho' I cannot see it in the folder/directory message list. (Annoying! Frustrating!)

Comment 2

[Mike Ramey]

(6a) From the TB Quick-Search tool where I could see the problem message in the "(BANK~CLEARED)" folder, I FORWARDED it (with a modified 'Subject' line) ... and the forwarded message became visible in TB. I then 'moved' it where I wanted it.

(6b) Then ... From the TB 'Search Messages (on Server)' [separate window] function ... I simply [Move]-ed the message to the "(BANK~CLEARED)" folder (where it was already reported to be !???). THEN I was able to see it (the original problem message) in that same folder -- in TB !!!

Enuf!

Comment 3

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

Mike have you tried repairing the folder?

Right-click the folder.
Select Properties
Click the Repair Folder button.

Comment 4

[Mike Ramey]

Walt -- I didn't even know the 'Repair Folder' function existed. Thanks for pointing that out. I used it just now on the "(BANK~CLEARED)" folder, which I had already fixed as described above.

I had tried the 'Compact' folder command, which did not fix the problem.

I will look for other 'problem' folders and, if/when I find one, I will try the 'Repair Folder' function, and report whether that fixes this problem.

Comment 5

[Mike Ramey]

Attachment: Folder Properties; Repair Folder [screenshot].jpg

See comment (7) below.

Comment 6

[Mike Ramey]

(7) DETECTING THIS PROBLEM -- To detect this problem:

• in Thunderbird ...
• click on / select / open any email folder
• click on / select any message in that folder
• press [Ctrl + A] to 'select all messages'
• look in the lower-right corner for "Selected: xxx Total: yyy"
• xxx & yyy should be the same number, because you 'selected all messages'

(7a)

I started checking my folders, starting with 'Inbox' and discovered:

• folder "(@PPT_DONE)" Selected: 259 Total: 263

which suggests to me there are 4 "TB-INVISIBLE" messages in this folder.

I did 'Compact' on this folder; re-ran the above test; no change.

I did 'Properties > Repair Folder' and re-ran the test; => PROBLEM FIXED:

• Selected: 263 Total: 263

(7b)

I continued checking my folders and found:

• folder "(@PPT_NOT)" Selected: 98 Total: 96

??? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN ???
??? The number of messages selected is GREATER-THAN the total number of messages ???

I did 'Compact' on this folder; re-ran the above test; no change.

I did 'Properties > Repair Folder' and re-ran the test; => PROBLEM FIXED:

• Selected: 98 Total: 98

COMMENTS / QUESTIONS / SUGGESTIONS

(A) The description of 'Repair Folder' (see attachment) is helpful, and makes clear (to me) that this is an important & useful function.

(B) Can the 'Repair Folder' [button] be moved from the 'Properties' dialog to appear near the 'Compact' button on the [folder-right-click] drop-down menu? To make it more visible & more accessible?

(C) Can the 'Repair Folder' process be run automatically, periodically, on all folders to keep all folders healthy[-ier]?

===

Comment 7

[Mike Ramey]

(8) REAL QUESTION:

I just found folder "All Mail" !!!

• Selected: 29940 Total: 29951

? Recommend 'Properties > Repair Folder' ???

Comment 8

[Mike Ramey]

COMMENTS / QUESTIONS / SUGGESTIONS (continued):

(D)
? Does restarting Thunderbird cause 'Repair Folder' of all folders ?
If not, can TB be modified to do that?

Comment 9

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Mike Ramey from comment #8)

...
? Does restarting Thunderbird cause 'Repair Folder' of all folders ?
If not, can TB be modified to do that?

No.

Are all messages always getting downloaded from gmail?

Comment 10

[Mike Ramey]

(in reply to: Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) Comment 9 • 9 days ago)

Q: 'Are all messages always getting downloaded from gmail?'

A: NO. When I reported this problem there was a message visible in the Gmail web interface, which was NOT visible in Thunderbird. -mr

Comment 11

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Do you also see this issue when using versoin 68?

Comment 12

[Mike Ramey]

Wayne --

I am running TBIRD '68.3.0 (32-bit)'.

I just ran the test described above (Mike Ramey Reporter, Comment 6 • 8 months ago, (7) DETECTING THIS PROBLEM) on 10 - 15 email folders; in all folders that I tested (including "All Mail") "Selected: xxx" and "Total: yyy" were identical -- GOOD!

I can't recall the last time I had this problem ("Selected: xxx" and "Total: yyy" NOT EQUAL). If this ever happens, I just do 'Repair Folder'.

Comment 13

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Thanks for the update