{"id":749,"date":"2025-11-24T10:06:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T10:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/?p=749"},"modified":"2025-11-25T09:37:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T09:37:01","slug":"wdseml-file-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"WDSEML File: What is It &#038; How to Open This File Extension?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Know what is WDSEML file and how to open files with .wdseml extension. Also, find the steps to enable\/disable Thunderbird settings that create .wdseml file on your system.<\/p>\n<p>WDSEML stands for <b>Windows Desktop Search Email<\/b>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"western\">What is WDSEML File?<\/h2>\n<p>A WDSEML file is a file associated with Mozilla Thunderbird. Thunderbird is a free, open-source, cross-platform desktop email client and news application. The WDSEML file contains information on emails stored in Thunderbird and helps users to look for specific content in the email messages when executing Windows searches.<\/p>\n<p><b>More information:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>WDSEML files are partial copies of your email messages, not important enough to require your attention. It is known as Thunderbird searchable email files. Its existence simply allows you to search for message content from the Windows search directly. It is not meant to be opened manually by users since it has no need.<\/p>\n<p><b>Where does Thunderbird store WDSEML file?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thunderbird creates files with .wdseml extension within<b> .mozmsgs<\/b> folders at the same place where your mailboxes are stored i.e., in the <b>Profiles<\/b> folder.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Default Location for IMAP accounts<\/span>:<\/p>\n<p>C:\\Users\\[username]\\AppData\\Roaming\\Thunderbird\\Profiles\\cqgji0s7.default-release\\ImapMail\\<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Default Location for POP accounts &amp; Local Folder<\/span>:<\/p>\n<p>C:\\Users\\[username]\\AppData\\Roaming\\Thunderbird\\Profiles\\cqgji0s7.default-release\\Mail\\<\/p>\n<p>If your Thunderbird stores email messages at a custom location, the .wdseml files will be present at that location only. To check the profile location, <strong>right-click<\/strong> on your email account &gt;&gt; <strong>Settings<\/strong> &gt;&gt; <strong>Server Settings<\/strong> &gt;&gt; find the database location in <strong>Local Directory<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><b>Correcting A Misinformation!<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><b>WDSEML <\/b><b>file does not contain actual email messages<\/b>. It is only a reference file created by Thunderbird to enable Windows search in finding the content of the stored email messages.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"western\">How to Open &amp; View WDSEML File Content?<\/h2>\n<p>You can use Mozilla Thunderbird application to easily open the WDSEML file. To do this, follow these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Right-c<\/b><b>lick<\/b> on the WDSEML file.<\/li>\n<li>Choose <b>Open With<\/b> option.<\/li>\n<li>Select Mozilla Thunderbird app.<\/li>\n<li>If its unavailable, click on <b>More Apps<\/b> &gt;&gt; <b>look for another app on this pc<\/b> and select <b>thunderbird.exe<\/b> from <b>C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Thunderbird\\<\/b><\/li>\n<li>Click <b>OK<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you are still unable to open it using Thunderbird, then make sure to update the Thunderbird application to the latest version.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>To do this, press the Alt button to display hidden menu and select <b>Help<\/b> menu.<\/li>\n<li>Then, click on <b>About Thunderbird<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>It will check for updates. Click on <b>Update<\/b> button, if available.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 class=\"western\">How to Disable Settings to Stop Creating WDSEML File?<\/h3>\n<p>The WDSEML files are of no significance to users who do not use Windows search function to find email messages content. In that case, it just takes unnecessary space and makes the folders look more complex than it truly is. Its better to simply disable this function.<\/p>\n<p>To disable settings, do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In Thunderbird, go to <b>Tools<\/b> menu and select <b>Options<\/b> (Press <b>Alt key<\/b> if menu is hidden).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/29-1.webp\" alt=\"tools options\" width=\"190\" height=\"307\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the <b>General tab<\/b>, deselect the <b>Allow Windows Search to search messages<\/b> checkbox under <b>System Integration<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-751\" src=\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/29-2.webp\" alt=\"allow windows search\" width=\"800\" height=\"414\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Also, click on <b>Check Now\u2026<\/b> and deselect the same checkbox here. Click <b>Set as Default<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/29-3.webp\" alt=\"set as default\" width=\"275\" height=\"274\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Restart Thunderbird.<\/li>\n<li>No further WDSEML files will be generated from now on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><i><b>Note<\/b>: If you want to <b>enable settings to start creating WDSEML file<\/b>, simply re-check the Allow Windows search to search messages in the aforemetioned steps.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Of course, you will have to delete the already generated files from your system. Which brings us to a new question &#8211; <u><b>What if I delete this file accidentally?<\/b><\/u><\/p>\n<p>Nothing will happen. As already discussed, WDSEML files do not contain actual data visible in Thunderbird. You can simply go to the Profile location, and delete the entire <strong>.mozmsg subfolders<\/strong> containing the <strong>.wdseml files<\/strong>. Nothing will happen other than a clean folder space.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Know what is WDSEML file and how to open files with .wdseml extension. Also, find the steps to enable\/disable Thunderbird settings that create .wdseml file on your system. WDSEML stands <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,5],"class_list":["post-749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mozilla-thunderbird","category-updates"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is WDSEML File &amp; How to Open This File Extension?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Know what is WDSEML file and how to open files with .wdseml extension. Also, find the steps to enable\/disable Thunderbird settings that create .wdseml file on your system.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tej Pratap Shukla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tej Pratap Shukla\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c588bfc2d99a45b01d5927dfc9514340\"},\"headline\":\"WDSEML File: What is It &#038; How to Open This File Extension?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-24T10:06:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T09:37:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/wdseml-file.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Mozilla Thunderbird\",\"Updates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/\",\"name\":\"What is WDSEML File & How to Open This File Extension?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wdseml-file-extension\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.systoolsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/wdseml-file.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-24T10:06:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T09:37:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Know what is WDSEML file and how to open files with .wdseml extension. 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