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How do I use Thunderbird on linux mint to browse and read message data, .sbd and .msf files, created on a Win7 machine (no longer available)

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  • Last reply by Mildly_odd2

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How do I use Thunderbird on linux mint to browse and read message data, .sbd and .msf files, created on a Win7 machine (no longer available)

I lost a windows 7 computer from a hardware failure. I've still got the hard disk. From what I can see the W7 AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird profile comprises folders with the extension ".sbd" and within these there pairs of files along the lines of

 subfoldername
 subfoldername.msf

I had both online and local mail folders, POP and IMAP, following this pattern on the W7 machine.

I now only use Thunderbird 52.9.1 on Linux Mint. I would like to be able to open these folders within Thunderbird and browse the messages, just as if they were all local mail folders. I've tried opening each of the subfoldername and subfoldername.msf files from the thunderbird File/Open/Saved Message option, but these only open into a single window containing all the emails of that subfolder in one long chain, really non-user friendly.

What can I try next?

How do I use Thunderbird on linux mint to browse and read message data, .sbd and .msf files, created on a Win7 machine (no longer available) I lost a windows 7 computer from a hardware failure. I've still got the hard disk. From what I can see the W7 AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird profile comprises folders with the extension ".sbd" and within these there pairs of files along the lines of subfoldername subfoldername.msf I had both online and local mail folders, POP and IMAP, following this pattern on the W7 machine. I now only use Thunderbird 52.9.1 on Linux Mint. I would like to be able to open these folders within Thunderbird and browse the messages, just as if they were all local mail folders. I've tried opening each of the subfoldername and subfoldername.msf files from the thunderbird File/Open/Saved Message option, but these only open into a single window containing all the emails of that subfolder in one long chain, really non-user friendly. What can I try next?

Chosen solution

1) I tried the menu option "Tools/Import": the pop up window leads to a radio button choice of what to import though in turn that then leads to an error message saying something like "No application of files found from which to import". This is bizarre as it hadn't offered any opportunity to select any files. I actually tried this months ago and had more or less given up on the idea before posting this question.

2) I had some inspiration to look and see if the "Local Folders" part of the main message tree pane actually had its own settings. It does. It allows you to open a *.sbd file from the hard disk and view the messages normally. This is fine for the moment though it appears to have the limitation that only one .sbd file can be imported at a time. Why this bit of functionality should have remained so hidden amazes me, especially when the Tools/Import/Error problem paints such a bleak message for the unsuspecting user.

3) I haven't yet tried the add-on you mentioned, though thank you for suggesting it. I note that it says its considered "experimental" by the developers. I will try it if/when I need something better than the thing I found at (2) above.

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try importing with the import export tools. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/

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Chosen Solution

1) I tried the menu option "Tools/Import": the pop up window leads to a radio button choice of what to import though in turn that then leads to an error message saying something like "No application of files found from which to import". This is bizarre as it hadn't offered any opportunity to select any files. I actually tried this months ago and had more or less given up on the idea before posting this question.

2) I had some inspiration to look and see if the "Local Folders" part of the main message tree pane actually had its own settings. It does. It allows you to open a *.sbd file from the hard disk and view the messages normally. This is fine for the moment though it appears to have the limitation that only one .sbd file can be imported at a time. Why this bit of functionality should have remained so hidden amazes me, especially when the Tools/Import/Error problem paints such a bleak message for the unsuspecting user.

3) I haven't yet tried the add-on you mentioned, though thank you for suggesting it. I note that it says its considered "experimental" by the developers. I will try it if/when I need something better than the thing I found at (2) above.