Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Moving individulal messages to a new computer

  • No replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 13 views
more options

Hi.

I installed a version of Thunderbird on a new (to me) computer back in December. I was eager to get going, so I didn't take the time to migrate my profile from my old computer - I just put in the account information for my various email accounts and let the old messages download automatically. My Hotmail and Gmail accounts imported all the old messages and folders, but my business accounts (from my website with its own mailbox system and DNS) obviously only downloaded the messages which were still on the server (about a year's worth), and none of the outgoing messages.

I keep a lot of my old messages (going back 5 years or more) for reference on history with clients, and would like to move them from my old machine to my new, without deleting or overwriting the messages that are already there. Is there a way I can move selected messages (in bulk, since it's several hundred, or maybe a thousand+), ideally within their existing folders, without disrupting the work that I've done since December?

I'd also like to move selected addresses (again, in bulk) or address books, without necessarily overwriting the ones that are already there, since the addresses that are in my new machine are likely to be the most up-to-date. But that's a lower priority.

Thanks for any help or information.

J.R.

Hi. I installed a version of Thunderbird on a new (to me) computer back in December. I was eager to get going, so I didn't take the time to migrate my profile from my old computer - I just put in the account information for my various email accounts and let the old messages download automatically. My Hotmail and Gmail accounts imported all the old messages and folders, but my business accounts (from my website with its own mailbox system and DNS) obviously only downloaded the messages which were still on the server (about a year's worth), and none of the outgoing messages. I keep a lot of my old messages (going back 5 years or more) for reference on history with clients, and would like to move them from my old machine to my new, without deleting or overwriting the messages that are already there. Is there a way I can move selected messages (in bulk, since it's several hundred, or maybe a thousand+), ideally within their existing folders, without disrupting the work that I've done since December? I'd also like to move selected addresses (again, in bulk) or address books, without necessarily overwriting the ones that are already there, since the addresses that are in my new machine are likely to be the most up-to-date. But that's a lower priority. Thanks for any help or information. J.R.

Modified by J.R.