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In Windows 8.1, why does Thunderbird have profiles in username\appdata\local and in username\appdata\roaming?

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  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

MarkinMN
MarkinMN

I searched online to find out how to find my address book and found an article that said to look in Users\username\appdata\local\thunderbird. I did not find it there, so I did more searching and found it in Users\username\appdata\roaming\thunderbird. Do I need the Users\username\appdata\local\thunderbird directory, or is It a leftover from a previous version of Thunderbird? I would like to delete it if I don't need it.

I searched online to find out how to find my address book and found an article that said to look in Users\username\appdata\local\thunderbird. I did not find it there, so I did more searching and found it in Users\username\appdata\roaming\thunderbird. Do I need the Users\username\appdata\local\thunderbird directory, or is It a leftover from a previous version of Thunderbird? I would like to delete it if I don't need it.

Chosen solution

Background info: When Thunderbird program is installed it puts it here:

  • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\

or if using windows 64bit, it will be here:

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\

when you run Thunderbird, it will create a default profile and this is where all your mail accounts, address books, filters, passwords etc are stored. Use for backup purposes.

  • C:\Users\Windows user name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\Profile name\

Windows also creates some cache folders and files, which is stored here:

  • C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Thunderbird

These files and folders do not contain any emails etc and are not required for backup purposes.

You can clear the cache from Thunderbird. Tools > clear Recent history.

Windows uses the AppData\Local. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/what-appdata-folder

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Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 10 Contributor

Chosen Solution

Background info: When Thunderbird program is installed it puts it here:

  • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\

or if using windows 64bit, it will be here:

  • C:\Program Files(x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\

when you run Thunderbird, it will create a default profile and this is where all your mail accounts, address books, filters, passwords etc are stored. Use for backup purposes.

  • C:\Users\Windows user name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\Profile name\

Windows also creates some cache folders and files, which is stored here:

  • C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Thunderbird

These files and folders do not contain any emails etc and are not required for backup purposes.

You can clear the cache from Thunderbird. Tools > clear Recent history.

Windows uses the AppData\Local. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/what-appdata-folder