2065626 - Column preferences randomly being reset

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect)

Description

[Adam Reece]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:153.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/153.0

Steps to reproduce:

Ever since Thunderbird 153 I've noticed that folder column preferences are randomly being reset to default. (Also applies to 153.1.) I can't find a consistent condition, but when clicking a folder to view its messages, it randomly seems to have lost the customised columns.

To resolve it I'll go to any other folder (in any account) that still has the right preferences, then use "Apply columns to" and "Apply current view to" the entire account. (Bit of a faff as this is 10 clicks per account that has 1 impacted folder.)

Actual results:

Folder column preferences reset to default.

Expected results:

Folder column preferences persisted.

Comment 1

[Ramona Gavrilescu]

Hello!
I have tested this issue on TB 153.0esr on win 11 and I was not able to reproduce it
I had multiple accounts already configured in Tb, I have customized columns for several folders and update from TB153.0esr to TB 153.0.1esr and later to latest 153.1.1esr. The customized columns remained in place and were not reset to the default configuration. I then restarted tb and checked folders and all custom columns were preserved.

Since the issue is reported to occur randomly, could you please provide some additional details that might help us identify the circumstances in which it happens? For example, does it affect a specific account or folder type, does it occur while Thunderbird is running or after a restart.

Comment 2

[Chris Cloutier]

I am experiencing this issue as well. I recently updated from version 13x.x esr or 14x.x esr (I don't recall the specific version, but it was prior to 150) to version 153.2.0esr, and that's when the issue started for me. I have 15 accounts, only 3 of which receive mail daily, and this issue has occurred on all 3 of those accounts. I doubt it matters, but all 3 are configured as POP accounts. Additionally, I was using Windows Defender when this issue started and I switched to Avast (switched for reasons unrelated to this issue), and the issue occurs with Avast as well. There are no visible notifications, warnings, or errors from any program (Defender, Avast, Thunderbird, or anything else) when this issue occurs.

Like the bug submitter, I am experiencing this issue randomly, with no apparent pattern of behavior or pattern of which folders get reset. Additionally, when the folder columns get reset, the folder stops showing that it contains unread messages (there is no number next to the folder name to indicate unread messages). I need to manually select the folder, and then the number of unread messages will suddenly re-appear next to the folder name.

The only thing which appears to be consistent in my case is that this appears to occur after a filter failure. I have filters set up (523 filters on account 1, 89 filters on account 2, and 14 filters on account 3), with each filter configured to 1) mark the message as not junk/spam, and 2) move the message to a specific folder within the same account. Randomly, a filter failure will occur, at which point the message stays in the Inbox. It is after that occurs that I notice the filter's destination folder has had its columns reset.

I enabled filter logging, and these are the failure messages which are logged prior to the columns getting reset (sensitive data is masked with placeholders):

[9/15/2026, 6:22:36 PM] Applied filter "From Experian" to message from <FROM_HEADER> - <SUBJECT_LINE> at 9/15/2026, 6:21:18 PM spam score

[9/15/2026, 6:22:36 PM] Applied filter "From Experian" to message from <FROM_HEADER> - <SUBJECT_LINE> at 9/15/2026, 6:21:18 PM moved message id = <MESSAGE_ID> to mailbox://<MAILBOX_ID>

[9/15/2026, 6:22:36 PM] Filter action failed: "Move failed" with error code=0x80550005 while attempting: Applied filter "From Experian" to message from <FROM_HEADER> - <SUBJECT_LINE> at 9/15/2026, 6:21:18 PM moved message id = <MESSAGE_ID> to mailbox://<MAILBOX_ID>

[9/15/2026, 6:22:36 PM] Filter action failed: "Failed applying the filter action" with error code=0x80550005 while attempting: Applied filter "From Experian" to message from <FROM_HEADER> - <SUBJECT_LINE> at 9/15/2026, 6:21:18 PM moved message id = <MESSAGE_ID> to mailbox://<MAILBOX_ID>

[9/15/2026, 6:22:36 PM] Message from filter "From Experian": Applying filter actions failed

[9/15/2026, 6:22:36 PM] Filter run failed

Comment 3

[Chris Cloutier]

I should point out that I do not have any extensions enabled.

Comment 4

[Adam Reece]

Thanks for your feedback Chris. Your notes seem to have some similar conditions to mine:

• Issue occurs when the destination folder is referenced by filters significantly more often than say a standard Inbox folder.
• Doesn't seem to be account specific, but occurs with a Gmail account more often. (Possibly because of how unresponsive Gmail can be over IMAP.)
• The impact is identical to manually repairing a folder (via Properties).

I'll turn on filter logging and check for any failures when this happens to a folder again.