Thunderbird saves personal information such as messages, passwords and user preferences in a set of files called a "profile", which is stored in a separate location from the Thunderbird program files. While it is possible to have multiple profiles, most users just use the single default (see Using Multiple Profiles for more information).

What is a profile?

In Thunderbird, the profile stores two main sets of items. First, it stores your local mail, and possibly copies of messages that reside on the mail server (depending on your account configuration). Second, it stores any changes you make while using Thunderbird (for example, changes to account settings and changes to the toolbar).

When you install Thunderbird it creates a profile called "default". This profile will be used automatically unless you invoke the Profile Manager and create a new profile.

Where is my profile stored?

Profile files are stored separately from the Thunderbird program files. The program files are static and do not change (except when you upgrade the Thunderbird application version). Because we store profile and program files separately, you can uninstall Thunderbird without losing your messages and settings, and if something goes wrong with a Thunderbird update your information will still be available. It also means that you don't have to reinstall Thunderbird in order to delete your information or troubleshoot a problem.

Each profile is stored on your hard drive in a profile folder. The folder is named using the following convention:

<random_string>.<profile_name>

...where "<random_string>" is eight digits randomly generated by Thunderbird and "<profile_name>" is the name you assigned to the profile. The location of the folder will vary according to the operating system (and whether or not you specified a non-default location when you created the profile):

Profile Location Summary

How to find your profile

1. Click on the menu button or menu bar.
2. From the Help menu, click Troubleshooting Information.
3. In the Application Basics section, Profile FolderProfile Directory, click on Show FolderOpen FolderShow in FinderOpen Directory.
4. The Windows Explorer Mac FinderFiles window will show the name of the profile as well as the path to it.

Backing up a profile

To back up your profile, first close Thunderbird if it is open and then copy the profile folder to another location.

1. Shut down Thunderbird.
2. Locate your profile folder, as explained above.
3. Go to one level above your profile's folder, i.e. to %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/~/.mozilla/Thunderbird/
4. Right-clickHold down the Ctrl key while you click on your profile folder (e.g. xxxxxxxx.default), and select Copy.
5. Right-clickHold down the Ctrl key while you click the backup location (e.g. a USB-stick or a blank CD-RW disc), and select Paste item.

Restoring a profile backup

1. Shut down Thunderbird.
2. If your existing profile folder and profile backup folder have the same name, simply replace the existing profile folder with the profile backup, then start Thunderbird.
   Important: The profile folder names must match exactly for this to work, including the random string of 8 characters. If the names do not match or if you are restoring a backup to a different location, follow the steps below.

Restoring to a different location

If the profile folder names do not match or if you want to move or restore a profile to a different location, do the following:

1. Completely close Thunderbird, as explained above.
2. Use the Thunderbird Profile Manager to create a new profile in your desired location, then exit the Profile Manager.
   Note: If you just installed Thunderbird on a new computer, you can use the default profile that is automatically created when you first run Thunderbird, instead of creating a new profile.
3. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g., your USB-stick).
4. Open the profile folder backup (e.g., the xxxxxxxx.default backup).
5. Copy the entire contents of the profile folder backup, such as the mimeTypes.rdf file, prefs.js file, etc.
6. Locate and open the new profile folder as explained above and then close Thunderbird (if open).
7. Paste the contents of the backed up profile folder into the new profile folder, overwriting existing files of the same name.
8. Start Thunderbird.

Moving a profile

Occasionally, you might want to move a profile or tell Thunderbird to use a profile stored in another location.

1. Shut down Thunderbird.
2. Move the profile folder to the desired location. For example, on Windows XP, move the profile from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default to D:\Stuff\MyMailProfile. (If you are reverting to a backed up profile, this step isn't necessary. Just note the current location of the profile you want to restore.)
3. Open up the profiles.ini file in a text editor. The file is located in the application data folder for Thunderbird:
   • The path is %AppData%\Thunderbird\ for Windows~/.thunderbird/ for Linux~/Library/Thunderbird/ for Mac OS X.
4. In the profiles.ini file, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location.
5. If you switch from a relative path to a non-relative path, the direction of the slashes may need to change. For example, in Windows, non-relative paths use backslashes, whereas relative ones use forward slashes. Change IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0.
6. Save profiles.ini and restart Thunderbird.

See Also

• Profile Manager Article on MozillaZine
• Profile Backup Article on MozillaZine