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Emails and folders/subfolders disappeared from Thunderbird and can't get them back

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  • Last reply by amanda8

amanda8
amanda8
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My email was working fine on July 22, and then my computer was turned off (cords removed) until today. When I opened Thunderbird, all my emails and folders/subfolders were missing, and Thunderbird was asking me to add a new email account to my existing profile.

Right now, I have two profiles: my business one, and my personal one. My business one (an IMAP account) is fine and everything works as it should. My personal one, which handles two email address (both POPs), is the one where the emails and folders went missing.

There was definitely a problem with the prefs.js file, because it didn't contain any of the personal email accounts' details like the business one did.

I know my personal emails and folders still exist when I go to C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\XXXXXXXX.default. I see them under the "Mail" folder and subfolders.

What I've done so far:

1) A system restore (didn't work)

2) Created a new profile and set up both personal email accounts again. Thunderbird was only able to pull emails from July 23 on from the server.

3) Went to Menu -> Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Open Folder and copy/pasted files from C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\XXXXXXXX.default into the new profile, C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ZZZZZZZZ.default (the current prefs.js file correctly has the account information in it now)

However, none of the emails or folders/subfolders are showing up. How can I restore them back to what it looked like on July 22?

My email was working fine on July 22, and then my computer was turned off (cords removed) until today. When I opened Thunderbird, all my emails and folders/subfolders were missing, and Thunderbird was asking me to add a new email account to my existing profile. Right now, I have two profiles: my business one, and my personal one. My business one (an IMAP account) is fine and everything works as it should. My personal one, which handles two email address (both POPs), is the one where the emails and folders went missing. There was definitely a problem with the prefs.js file, because it didn't contain any of the personal email accounts' details like the business one did. I know my personal emails and folders still exist when I go to C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\XXXXXXXX.default. I see them under the "Mail" folder and subfolders. What I've done so far: 1) A system restore (didn't work) 2) Created a new profile and set up both personal email accounts again. Thunderbird was only able to pull emails from July 23 on from the server. 3) Went to Menu -> Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Open Folder and copy/pasted files from C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\XXXXXXXX.default into the new profile, C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ZZZZZZZZ.default (the current prefs.js file correctly has the account information in it now) However, none of the emails or folders/subfolders are showing up. How can I restore them back to what it looked like on July 22?

Modified by amanda8

Chosen solution

After some more research, I downloaded the ImportExportTools NG add-on and was able to use that to move everything into its right place.

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amanda8
amanda8 Question owner
more options

Chosen Solution

After some more research, I downloaded the ImportExportTools NG add-on and was able to use that to move everything into its right place.