How to Resolve “Thunderbird Cannot Delete Messages” Error

Mozilla Thunderbird is a desktop-based email application. It is an open-source email client that is primarily used by business and Organization users. Moreover, it provides users full control over their email messages. The Thunderbird is compatible with any of the three Operating systems i.e. Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. Despite having all such benefits, sometimes users may resolve some errors in the Thunderbird application.

 Therefore, to fix this issue: “Thunderbird not deleting messages from server“, a user should recover the corrupt trash. Hence, in this post, we have described the solution of the thunderbird cannot delete messages issue.

Reasons Behind Occurrence of Unable to Delete Emails in Thunderbird

Here are some general reasons that will cause errors in the .mbox files due to which you are not able to delete messages.

• Due to Corrupt MBOX Files.
• The Thunderbird application not updated leads to the error.
• Glitches in the Thunderbird.
• Lost Files from Directory.

Now, let’s discuss some free methods to fix the error.

Also Read – How to Export Windows Live Mail Contacts To Outlook 2016

Fix “Thunderbird Cannot Delete Messages” Error- 100% Proven Method

Troubleshoot the Corrupt Trash Folder

Repair the trash folder and try to delete messages when Thunderbird does not delete emails. To do this, follow the described-steps mentioned below:

• First of all, access the Profile Folder from which you need to delete the messages
• Secondly, in the top right corner of the screen, click on the Menu icon.
• Then, navigate to the Help > Troubleshooting Information option.

It opens the Troubleshooting Information tab. Then, in the Application Basics tab, tap on the Open Folder button. Here, all the files associated with that profile will be displayed.

• Now, exit the Mozilla Thunderbird software.
• After that, navigate to File Manager, tap on the Mail folder/ImapMail folder (depending upon the type of account)
• Next, access the folder with the incoming mail server name (pop.googlemail.com or imap.googlemail.com)
• Here, select the MSF files separately or Trash and remove all email messages if Thunderbird won’t delete emails. 

Note– Some profiles are named as Deleted or Bin folder.

• Finally, start the Thunderbird Application again.

If users have an IMAP account, Thunderbird will automatically generate a new Trash folder.

If users have a POP account, then tap on Folder List and right-click on the account name. Then, choose the New Folder option. Allocate Trash as a name to the new folder and hit on the Create Folder button. After that, confirm the creation of the new Trash folder.

After executing all the above steps, trash appears again and a user can repair Mozilla Thunderbird cannot delete messages error.

Access Thunderbird in Safe Mode

If the above-described method won’t work properly to resolve the issue “Thunderbird can’t delete messages”, then stop the Thunderbird software and open it in safe mode. After that, perform the below-described task:

• When you restart Thunderbird in safe mode and Thunderbird does not delete mail, you have to remove all add-ons. Therefore, move to Help and select the “Restart with Add-ons Disabled” option. Now, If Thunderbird executes properly, then the problem is with add-ons that restrict the normal functioning. Hereafter, pick each of the add-ons one-by-one while identifying the offender.
• Another possible procedure to restart the OS in a safe mode using Networking. This loads all the essentials to start the computer while the internet connection is established. Now, tap on the OS for instructions and learn how to start Windows in safe mode.

Prestigious Method to Resolve Thunderbird Cannot Delete Messages

DRS MBOX file Converter is one of the popular utilities to convert MBOX to PST, CSV, OST, MHTML,  MSG, TXT, PDF,  EML, MHT, EMLX, and HTML. Compatible with every MS Outlook including 2019/2016/2013/2010/2007 and 2003. Besides, it maintains the data structure during the complete conversion of the files. It is easy to process and very secure. 

Prominent Features of the MBOX File Software

• Migrate MBOX to Outlook, including email, calendars, contacts, notes, tasks, etc.
• Immediately converts MBOX to PST format without causing any modification.
• Support damage MBOX/MBX files for conversion.
• The free MBOX to PST Converter is available to evaluate the performance of the tool.

• Directly migrate MBOX to Thunderbird, Gmail,  Opera Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Live Exchange, Office 365, IMAP, etc.
• It is compatible with almost every version of the Windows Operating system.

Final Verdict

After considering the above two methods, we are now acknowledged of the ways to resolve the thunderbird cannot delete messages error. As we know the manual method is lengthy, time-consuming, and sometimes, it fails to solve the issue. So, I would like to recommend you to solve delete email from thunderbird by MBOX file Converter tool. Installing this software saves time and is easy to migrate.

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