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How to remove old unsupported files from a profile

Thunderbird Profiles
david replied 37 minutes ago
Leo.Levosky1
Leo.Levosky1

I have posted another question about my corrupted TB profile and restoring it. Having done the restore and looked through the profile folder it is clear that this is full of old files that are no longer supported/needed.

Is there a utility that removes these old files?

I'm not sure if TB updates should remove them but it doesn't appear to have done so.

When I read https://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_folders_in_the_profile_-_Thunderbird it is clear that there are so many of these that doing it manually would be prone to error. That resource also says it does not know what some of the files actually do.

Is there a better resource that lists just the latest files maintained by Mozilla?

If I do a new export does it only export the files it needs? The last time I ran an export the resulting zip did not contain all the files from the TB installation but I have no idea why.

I have posted another question about my corrupted TB profile and restoring it. Having done the restore and looked through the profile folder it is clear that this is full of old files that are no longer supported/needed. Is there a utility that removes these old files? I'm not sure if TB updates should remove them but it doesn't appear to have done so. When I read https://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_folders_in_the_profile_-_Thunderbird it is clear that there are so many of these that doing it manually would be prone to error. That resource also says it does not know what some of the files actually do. Is there a better resource that lists just the latest files maintained by Mozilla? If I do a new export does it only export the files it needs? The last time I ran an export the resulting zip did not contain all the files from the TB installation but I have no idea why.

All Replies (1)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor

Normally, since windows will overlay a file of the same name, there shouldn't be many such files, If you post the names of a few, that may help. the area where you may see unneede files would be in the imapmail folder or the mail folder, as that is where user files are stored. For exporting, the simple way is to do it with windows file explorer, as that copies everything:

BACKUP

  1. ensure thunderbird is not running
  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

RESTORE

  1. ensure thunderbird is installed, run once, and NOT running
  2. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
  3. delete the thunderbird folder
  4. you should be in Appdata\roaming folder , copy&paste the exported Thunderbird folder there.
  5. start thunderbird and all should be there
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