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How can I synchronise my Local Folders on 2 different windows 10 laptops?

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  • Last reply by Martin

Martin
Martin

I have recently bought a new laptop which I want to use as my main one from now on for emails and internet browsing. My original laptop is much more powerful, but I want to keep it for photo editing. However, I have my Thunderbird set up on this laptop and already enjoy a large number of emails saved in various subfolders of "Local folders." Is there a way I can transfer the local folders from the original laptop to my new laptop? If I could keep the 2 laptops synchronised that would be even better, so that 1 will act as a backup for the other. Many thanks in anticipation.

I have recently bought a new laptop which I want to use as my main one from now on for emails and internet browsing. My original laptop is much more powerful, but I want to keep it for photo editing. However, I have my Thunderbird set up on this laptop and already enjoy a large number of emails saved in various subfolders of "Local folders." Is there a way I can transfer the local folders from the original laptop to my new laptop? If I could keep the 2 laptops synchronised that would be even better, so that 1 will act as a backup for the other. Many thanks in anticipation.

Chosen solution

If you want to synchronise then you need to find a way of sharing some common resource. With email, IMAP is the most obvious and easy way to make sure messages are available on any device that connects to the account.

If you store messages in Local Folders then you are, intentionally or otherwise making them discrete and independent.

As a one-off exercise I'd copy the working profile to the new computer. Then you'll have everything that was stored at on the older machine at that point in time.

Local Folders are by definition not shared. If you want to keep the two Thunderbirds in sync, you can periodically copy the profile from whichever you view as the master to the other. In your place, I'd start moving material I want to share into an IMAP-connected account.

If you want to stay with copying folders back and forth, look for the Local Folders folder in your profile and transfer that. That should be the smallest amount of copying that covers everything.

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Zenos
Zenos

Chosen Solution

If you want to synchronise then you need to find a way of sharing some common resource. With email, IMAP is the most obvious and easy way to make sure messages are available on any device that connects to the account.

If you store messages in Local Folders then you are, intentionally or otherwise making them discrete and independent.

As a one-off exercise I'd copy the working profile to the new computer. Then you'll have everything that was stored at on the older machine at that point in time.

Local Folders are by definition not shared. If you want to keep the two Thunderbirds in sync, you can periodically copy the profile from whichever you view as the master to the other. In your place, I'd start moving material I want to share into an IMAP-connected account.

If you want to stay with copying folders back and forth, look for the Local Folders folder in your profile and transfer that. That should be the smallest amount of copying that covers everything.

Martin
Martin Question owner

Thank you very much, Zenos, for your very helpful and prompt reply. I'll copy over the local folders folder in my profile. Thank you once again. Martin.