Restore Default Profile
Big-time issue logging into my Thunderbird email account.
1. I launched Thunderbird (Ver. 91.4.1 -- 32-bit )from my Windows 10 laptop.
2. At login, my password was rejected with pop-up message that read "Login to server secure.emailsrvr.com with username johnspitters@familynation.com failed."
3. I reset my password but was again rejected with the same message rejecting my login credentials.
4. I examined the issue by first going to Account Settings where I discovered two profiles for my email address rather than one.
5. I removed the profile that I thought was an invalid profile but it turned out to be the profile with all of my emails, local email folders and Address book.
6. I reviewed the online Thunderbird documentation about restoring the profile that I removed and located the default profile filename "125ngvfu.default".
7. By reading further, I learned that this file would be restored to the profile settings as of 12/26/2021.
8. In following the online instructions to restore the profile that I removed, I was unsuccessful in restoring it.
9. Please email me using my secondary email address: xxx. However, I would appreciate support come by way of communication via telephone in order to restore the default profile that was removed in error.
I may be reached at xxx.
(removed private information)
Thank you, JS
Gewysig op
All Replies (20)
Hello JS Just so you know, this is a volunteer forum and we do not messages people directly by email or call them. Forum people cannot see your account email for privacy reasons. The forum replies will go to whichever email you used when you registered on the Mozilla support system, so if you did not use the right one, edit your account on Mozilla to get the messages at Yahoo. For future reference please do not write your email address and phone number on a public website. Information is open and visible to anyone, could be harvested for spam or malicious attacks.
Pls provide the correct path for me to edit my account on Mozilla to receive messages at my Yahoo email account. Thx, JS
Sure! That isn't as simple as it seems. It is in Firefox Accounts - You may see a little round circle with a letter icon next to the 3 bar menu in your Firefox browser. If so click on it. It may also appear as a head and shoulders icon - either one should get you to Firefox Accounts. Click on it - the first item should be Manage Accounts. Then follow this guide. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/change-primary-email-address-firefox-accounts [If you are not sure whether you have a Firefox account - I believe you would have set up an account to post to the support page, if you didn't already have one. Initial sign up goes like this but you would have done that already. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/access-mozilla-services-firefox-account ]
I followed your directions in order to enter a secondary email address. Your system, under Firefox Accounts / Profile, shows I have no secondary email established. When I select "Add" and then enter my secondary email address, I receive a pop-up message, indicating "Account already exists". (see attached MS Word doc of screen shot.) Any thoughts as to a work-around or suitable solution to this? Pls advise. JS
Your system would not allow me to post my message to you with the JPG image of the response that I created showing the pop-up response that I received. Shocking.
"Account Settings" is not shown.
If it says Account Exists, then you may have two Firefox accounts. Possibly signed up from different computers at different times, even with different user names? You could sign in with the username associated with the email you want to use and then re-post your question. Try this shortcut to sign in https://accounts.firefox.com/signin However you do seem to be accessing the answers to your question, whether by email or in the forum, so you may not need to do this now.
Regarding attaching - you cannot attach a Word doc. Just attach the picture using the Add Images button.
Under "Setting", there are 3 options:
1. Profile 2. Security 3. Connected Services
Below this, "Email Communications" is shown. Clicking on this takes me to the Sign In page for Mozilla Email preferences. Clicking on the Sign In page produces the following:
Manage Your Email Preferences We love sharing updates about all the awesome things happening at Mozilla.
Set your preferences below to make sure you always receive the news you want.
Your email address: [REDACTED BY MODERATOR]@familynation.com Country or region: Language: Not all subscriptions are supported in all the languages listed. Almost all are offered in English, German and French. Format: HTML Text Text subscribers will receive an email twice a year to confirm continuation of the subscription. Those emails may include HTML.
Many of our communications are related to an account you’ve signed up for, such as Firefox Accounts, MDN Web Docs, or Add-on Developer. To manage one of your accounts or see a list of all the accounts, visit our account management support page.
To get access to the whole world of Firefox products, knowledge and services in one account, join us! Learn more about the benefits here.
There are many ways to engage with Mozilla and Firefox. If you didn’t find what you were looking for here, check out our community pages.
Nothing you direct me to produces what you indicate.
[Personal information removed by moderator. Please read Mozilla Support rules and guidelines, thanks.]
Gewysig op
How about we do this....Please... just give me instructions of how I move the file "125ngvfu.default" - the profile file dated 12/23/2021 that contains the Thunderbird profile internals that were in place before I removed it in error yesterday - so that I can restore the Thunderbird email profile that I had up until yesterday. That would be helpful. Thank you.
FYI: The file, "125ngvfu.default", is on my Windows 10 hard drive in following file location: C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles\125nvgfu.default
Ok, to the Profile question. Your Point 5 - do you mean you deleted the account from within Thunderbird? Sadly that does delete all emails associated with the account, unless you move them to Local Folders first. I hope you made a backup of the Profile. Point 7 - is the date you mentioned the last backup you made before removing the account from Thunderbird? If so, good. Since you have not successfully logged in with Thunderbird since then, the emails stored in your backed up Profile will be up to that backup date, and any new ones exist online and will only download when you fix the login problem. That's good too. Point 8 - please post the link to the instructions you were using so I can see the method you used. Let me know how far you got and what happened when the method failed. Unfortunately if you did not make a backup, then deleted the 'live' account, and are looking at a Profile dated after you deleted the account, that Profile won't help restore the emails for the lost account. However, if your account was IMAP, all is not lost. You can at the least recover all the emails that are still visible in your webmail account.
Gewysig op
Another FYI: This entire problem/conflict all started yesterday morning when my password was rejected - I received a pop-up message that read "Login to server secure.emailsrvr.com with username [REDACTED BY MODERATOR]@familynation.com failed." Why would my password suddenly begin getting rejected???
[Personal information removed by moderator. Please read Mozilla Support rules and guidelines, thanks.]
Gewysig op
OK, so I believe I deleted the profile as you suggest in your question -- i.e., within Thunderbird -- but I have a backup of the default file in question file on an external drive that I use for backup purposes in addition to the Dropbox account I have for backup.
BTW: why don't the Thunderbird product people situate a date beneath the email profile inside Thunderbird that the profile was created so that idiots such as I avert unintentional deletion if guided by the date of the user profile? Seems pretty intuitive to me, so...
Also, I've noticed that my user name of johnspitters1 is NOT what I set up as my username. I set up my username as JohnSpitters. Creepy.
Your very first question post was johnspitters. Your responses since are johnspitters1. So - two accounts, as I suspected.
Need to clarify "Profile" and what you refer to as profiles inside Thunderbird. Inside Thunderbird you see Accounts - being your email connection settings, and where to put saved sent, drafts, trash and so on. Those settings as well as all your email for all your accounts are in one big Profile. Or at least they are for most users, some do run more than one Profile. If you see only one folder in C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles - the one called \125nvgfu.default, then that Profile is where both the accounts, their settings and all emails existed. Ok, then you say "just give me the instructions as to how I move it".... well, that's why I asked which instructions you were following that failed? I need to know if you have the right instructions already and just made a misstep, rather than starting at the beginning of a complex process all over again. The simple answer is - copy the backed up \125nvgfu.default into C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles
Point 8 - please post the link to the instructions you were using so I can see the method you used. Let me know how far you got and what happened when the method failed.
Here's the link I used/followed: https://accounts.firefox.com/settings?context=fx_desktop_v3&entrypoint=fxa_app_menu&uid=084f536fe69f47beb7e1b579305416e1&email=johnspitters%40familynation.com
Regarding your prior message, "Your very first question post was johnspitters. Your responses since are johnspitters1. So - two accounts, as I suspected." --> Please elaborate as to your suspicions and why this is happening.
Any feedback for me about my prior remark? -->I have a backup of the default file in question, (dated 12/23/201), on an external drive that I use for backup purposes in addition to the Dropbox account I have for backup.
FYI: my account is IMAP, not POP.
I realize that your system does not support MS Word attachment -- I created a JPG file and when I clicked on the attach icon, your system went into a continuous loop and did not attached the JPG file. Weird.
"Attach" icon? Were you trying to reply in email? First hit Post Reply to get to your question on the support site. Then use Add Images [browse] button on the support site, below Post Reply.