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Import Thunderbird address book from another computer

david replied
bob288

I am computer literate, but please remember that literacy is a 4th grade degree of knowledge so please be gentle with me. I have installed Thnderbird on a new computer but cannot import the address book from my old computer. Please help. Thank you.

I am computer literate, but please remember that literacy is a 4th grade degree of knowledge so please be gentle with me. I have installed Thnderbird on a new computer but cannot import the address book from my old computer. Please help. Thank you.

All Replies (1)

I will assume you use Windows. As a tip for the future, it's usually easiest when switching to a new computer to transfer the full profile. Doing that ensures that all accounts, settings, and addressbook get moved intact to new computer. Now, for your addressbook, here are general steps:

  1. on old computer, go to c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird\profiles
  2. search each folder in the profiles folder for two files: abook.sqlite and history.sqlite. If you find more than one, usually the larger and more recently updated will be the latest versions.
  3. copy both to external media
  4. on new computer, start thunderbird and click to addressbook pane
  5. in lower part of the screen is an import button. Do twice, once for each of the two files.
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