Message filter barely working on Thunderbird 115.3.2 [32 Bit]

[TrickyDickie]

The filtering of emails into different folders is a great boon, shame it doesn't fully work. irrespective of the different settings it is very 'hit and miss' whether filter emails get sent to their respetive folders, or stay in the inbox.

Anyone have any ideas?

Richard

[tzot]

The solution I've found is that:

• new messages get tagged with specific label
• all filters operate on that label, and afterwards the label is removed
• if messages remain unfiltered in the inbox, apply the specific label and run the filters, both manually

My issue with the latest versions of Thunderbird is that it's not that easy anymore to manually run filters on selected messages.

[DinghySailor]

Since the latest update, I have had the same issue, and running the filter manually has no effect. I cannot even manually move the emails to the required folders.
Can I go back to the previous release, where the filters may not have worked perfectly, but at least worked mostly!

[Grimmywelsh]

I've updated a few weeks ago, and no matter whether I choose my filters to run before or after spam detection, they simply don't work anymore. I have to manually run them. This sucks. Big time!

[griswolf]

Thunderbird v115.6.0 (64-bit), MacOS 14.2.1 (apple silicon)

My message filter (boiled down for debugging) consists of:
When getting new mail, filter before junk classification
Match: All messages
One action: Tag with "filtered" tag

It never runs automatically. I can run it manually and it correctly tags the messages.

I am connected to my email service via IMAP using SSL/TLS (Normal Password). This is a local service that has always done a good job of meeting spec, but they don't provide filtering on their side of the connection.

My suspicion is that "when getting new messages" is never triggered, though I have no clue why not.

[griswolf]

It's working for me now. The trick was to always run the filter AFTER junk classification. Another user suggested this, but I've lost track of whom. If you really NEED to filter prior to junk classification, I guess you lose.

[GoldenBugatti]

This is true. I am having almost too many filtering problems to mention here. Filters running over and over again for no reason. Filters sometimes not running, sometimes running when they don't need to. Filters running on emails that don't match the filter's criteria. Filters running and nothing being recorded in the filter log even though it's enabled.

TB is a hot mess and getting worse and worse, not better. As of v 115 this is not a usable email client anymore. I need working filtering. I can't understand why 20 years of development have not been long enough for them to figure out how to implement a feature that every single other email client I've used since 1986 has had no problem with.

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

https://wiki.mozilla.org/MailNews:Logging ? can it help you

Thunderbird Module Names, Filters, can it help you?

Illustration and for my part Windows

set MOZ_LOG=Filters:5,timestamp
set MOZ_LOG_FILE=%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\log_file
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe"

Save your file
Type : All files
illustration.bat

Then, click on illustration.bat, it will launch Thunderbird
.bat will open a command prompt window, this is normal
Shutting down Thunderbird will stop .bat and close the command prompt window.

And keep an eye on log_file.moz_log from time to time, in real time, because, as we've seen
Stopping Thunderbird will stop .bat, close the command prompt window and empty log_file.moz_log

If you wish, you can also contact
Report a bug https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/home - https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/describecomponents.cgi?product=Thunderbird

[Arttguy]

Ever since the big update a year or so ago, all my filters have been broken. This means for hundreds of clients, anytime a new email comes in, I need to create the filter all over again to tell it where to go. It's completely obnoxious. Then it seems every other couple of updates or so, it happens all over again. I'm now missing emails that come in because 1) they no longer have their filter working, and sometimes Mozilla thinks they are spam, and 2) they get buried in the amount of emails I receive.

Is there any way to back up filters to try and reload them? Or do I just need to find a new email program because this just isn't working any longer? 

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

msgFilterRules.dat below location example
https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/where-is-msgfilterrules-dat-file

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_how-do-i-find-my-...

IMAP = folder ImapMail and your EMAIL ACCOUNT
POP = folder Mail and your EMAIL ACCOUNT

[GoldenBugatti]

Six months later, back looking for a solution, and apparently still nothing.

Filters sometimes work. They sometimes don't. Sometimes you have to trigger them manually. Sometimes they work except when you trigger them manually. Filters set to run every 10 minutes don't run at all.

This is truly ridiculous. It's 2024. How could they not have this worked out yet?

[crevier]

I've been using Thunderbird for MANY years, most recently to handle all of the filtering on my gmail account. It's worked very well via IMAP. But this week I got a new computer and of course installed Thunderbird. But, in addition to my new install, it seems Google has a new way of authenticating for IMAP access. In any case, I have Thunderbird properly reading my gmail account, but the filters are now VERY hap-hazard. Mostly they just don't run. It's quite frustrating as I have about 154 filters. I'd love any suggestions.