Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How to move to a new PC with multiple accounts stored on 2 different drives?

  • 1 odgovor
  • 0 ima ovaj problem
  • Posljednji odgovor poslao david

livio.rolle
livio.rolle

I have 5 email accounts stored in drive I: and 3 in drive C:, with multiple profiles (in I:(...)\Roaming\Thunderbird and \Local\Thunderbird AND the same in C:). (Windows 10). I need to move to a new PC (Windows 11), where drives are named C: and D:. I tried to use the Import/export function, but the accounts previously in I: don't appear (only the basic account shows, no inbox/sent, etc. and no data). I manually changed one of them to C: and then import again only the data. That was not possible for all the accounts and many emails (90%) are missing, also from the account were it "worked". I can find some emails in folders at the bottom of the account list, but many emails are yet missing, and received/sent not clearly defined. NB: on Windows 10 I have the latest esr version, on Windows 11 the latest NOT esr version.

So I tried to manually transfer the archives, but when copying from \Local\Thunderbird to an USB for the transfer, many files (more then 40k) went missing due to errors of copying.

What can I try?

I have 5 email accounts stored in drive I: and 3 in drive C:, with multiple profiles (in I:(...)\Roaming\Thunderbird and \Local\Thunderbird AND the same in C:). (Windows 10). I need to move to a new PC (Windows 11), where drives are named C: and D:. I tried to use the Import/export function, but the accounts previously in I: don't appear (only the basic account shows, no inbox/sent, etc. and no data). I manually changed one of them to C: and then import again only the data. That was not possible for all the accounts and many emails (90%) are missing, also from the account were it "worked". I can find some emails in folders at the bottom of the account list, but many emails are yet missing, and received/sent not clearly defined. NB: on Windows 10 I have the latest esr version, on Windows 11 the latest NOT esr version. So I tried to manually transfer the archives, but when copying from \Local\Thunderbird to an USB for the transfer, many files (more then 40k) went missing due to errors of copying. What can I try?

All Replies (1)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor

The good news is that Thunderbird is basically stupid, using whatever files are present at startup. First, please be explicit in your description. You mention having accounts on drive I, plus having multiple profiles as well, plus profiles in local\thundebird, or accounts? Are all accounts accessible from one profile, or must you restart in different profiles? DO NOT use the thunderbird export/import feature. Posting a screenshot of the 'server settings' pane for one of the accounts on drive I may help, plus screenshot of 'sever settings' for any other account in non-traditional location. If all accounts are accessed from one profile, the switch should be easy. Here is a sample scenario, assuming accounts on drive C and drive I:

  1. ensure thunderbird is not running on old PC
  2. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
  3. this should open windows file explorer in Appdata\roaming folder
  4. highlight the Thunderbird folder and copy to external media
  5. ensure thunderbird is installed and NOT running on NEW PC
  6. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
  7. you should be in Appdata\roaming folder , copy&paste the exported Thunderbird folder there. This will prompt to overwrite an existing folder of same name. allow it
  8. Copy the accounts on drive I to drive D
  9. start thunderbird on new PC. A message may appear that some accounts are not where expected, with suggestion to update setting. Go to the 'server settings' pane for those accounts, click the browse button in lower right and locate/select the appropriate account that was moved to drive D. Thunderbird will then automatically close and restart.

I am a bit fuzzy on the archives, but I believe those can also be set from the 'copies&folders' pane for the accounts.

I have concerns on why you lost 40% of content when copying archives. That indicates a problem, but I have no suggestions there.

My suggestions may not be 100%, but my intent is that they are helpful.

Postavite pitanje

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.