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Thunderbird acts like a new installation, all my data is gone

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I have used Thunderbird for many years on this computer with no problems. Last night it checked my email as normal, but a pop up asked if I wanted to make Thunderbird my default browser. It has always been my default browser, but I clicked yes and I also unchecked the box about checking every time at startup. The next morning I opened Thunderbird and it is asking if I want to set up an email account as if it is a brand new installation. Are all my saved emails and email account information lost permanently?

I have used Thunderbird for many years on this computer with no problems. Last night it checked my email as normal, but a pop up asked if I wanted to make Thunderbird my default browser. It has always been my default browser, but I clicked yes and I also unchecked the box about checking every time at startup. The next morning I opened Thunderbird and it is asking if I want to set up an email account as if it is a brand new installation. Are all my saved emails and email account information lost permanently?

All Replies (4)

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You sound like another lucky CCleaner user. https://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=48428&p=284171

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I have never heard of CCleaner and I don't think I've run it. I didn't click the link in the discussion because it looked like a patch to CCleaner from some other publisher. Is there a cure for this problem somewhere in the discussion thread that I missed?

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CCleaner is a software that thinks it knows best what should or should not be on your computer and deletes things. Earlier this week they released an upgrade that wiped out Thunderbird and Firefox data. Your description was exactly like dozens of others this week so I was guessing you were using his software.

Thunderbird does lose your profile on its own sometimes. This article explains steps to fix that. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_profile_that_suddenly_disappeared