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Migrating Thunderbird data to new Windows 11 computer but <username> is different and can't get it configured properly

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  • Last reply by dperrow

dperrow
dperrow
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There are a lot of questions and answers around moving Windows Thunderbird data from one computer to another, and I have tried to follow all the advice, but still running into issues. One thing to note is that my "UserName" folder is different on my new computer, and I am trying to accommodate for that difference as well.

I've tried various ways to do this, each time uninstalling TB and deleting my Thunderbird folders in my \AppData\Roaming and AppData\Local\ to start fresh, but perhaps there is some registry key messing things up??

Steps Taken: I followed "Moving Thunderbird Data To A New Computer" article and YouTube video (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer) article, but it doesn't cover my situation with the new <UserName> folder. This is what I did:

1. Identified old Profile folder on OLDComputer. 2. Copied entire “Thunderbird” folder from OLDComputer. (Note, old <UserName> folder: “First Last”) C:\Users\First Last\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\4enlv7u2.default 3. Installed Thunderbird 91.4.0 on NEWComputer. 4. Started Thunderbird. 5. Did not set up an account. 6. Closed Thunderbird. 7. Replaced the Thunderbird folder in this folder Users\First\AppData\Roaming\ with the Thunderbird folder from my OLDComputer. 8. Start Thunderbird, and get error: “The file mailbox:///C:/Users/First Last/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/4enlv7u2.default/Mail/mail.blahblah.net/Inbox?number=7075&part=1.2&filename=STATEMENT.pdf&type=application/pdf cannot be found. Please check the location and try again.” 9. So, I edited profile.ini because the <UserName> path is different on this computer. • Updated “IsRelative” from 1 to 0. • Under the [Profile0] section, updated these two lines (Changed “IsRelative=” from 1 to 0), and replace the <username> in the path to just “First”:

IsRelative=0 Path=C:\Users\First\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\4enlv7u2.default

10. I refreshed or something, and got a dialog to Create/Rename profile. I renamed it from “default” to “First”. 11. I notice all my old email has loaded. 12. Then I restarted Thunderbird, but...

Got error: “Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.” Then it wont run.

What are my next steps, or how can I re-do this properly from scratch (I'm getting good at that) THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!

There are a lot of questions and answers around moving Windows Thunderbird data from one computer to another, and I have tried to follow all the advice, but still running into issues. One thing to note is that my "UserName" folder is different on my new computer, and I am trying to accommodate for that difference as well. I've tried various ways to do this, each time uninstalling TB and deleting my Thunderbird folders in my \AppData\Roaming and AppData\Local\ to start fresh, but perhaps there is some registry key messing things up?? Steps Taken: I followed "Moving Thunderbird Data To A New Computer" article and YouTube video (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer) article, but it doesn't cover my situation with the new <UserName> folder. This is what I did: 1. Identified old Profile folder on OLDComputer. 2. Copied entire “Thunderbird” folder from OLDComputer. (Note, old <UserName> folder: “First Last”) C:\Users\First Last\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\4enlv7u2.default 3. Installed Thunderbird 91.4.0 on NEWComputer. 4. Started Thunderbird. 5. Did not set up an account. 6. Closed Thunderbird. 7. Replaced the Thunderbird folder in this folder Users\First\AppData\Roaming\ with the Thunderbird folder from my OLDComputer. 8. Start Thunderbird, and get error: “The file mailbox:///C:/Users/First Last/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/4enlv7u2.default/Mail/mail.blahblah.net/Inbox?number=7075&part=1.2&filename=STATEMENT.pdf&type=application/pdf cannot be found. Please check the location and try again.” 9. So, I edited profile.ini because the <UserName> path is different on this computer. • Updated “IsRelative” from 1 to 0. • Under the [Profile0] section, updated these two lines (Changed “IsRelative=” from 1 to 0), and replace the <username> in the path to just “First”: IsRelative=0 Path=C:\Users\First\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\4enlv7u2.default 10. I refreshed or something, and got a dialog to Create/Rename profile. I renamed it from “default” to “First”. 11. I notice all my old email has loaded. 12. Then I restarted Thunderbird, but... Got error: “Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.” Then it wont run. What are my next steps, or how can I re-do this properly from scratch (I'm getting good at that) THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!

Chosen solution

I have not read you post in it's entirely just skimmed it. This is my method of moving and differs in a few places to the official narrative. Mostly the differences escape from opening files in the file system that are not in the profile and managing the profile per installs insistence you use the newly created profile is it messes up not or sometime in the future. I also to not suggest editing the [profiles.ini as the information in there is now linked to in other dependent install files and that causes it's own issues. [Point 9]

go to your old computer. Start Thunderbird close all open TABS. (this is important as you have found with your error messages trying to open a PDF file [point 8]) Use the Help > troubleshoot mode menu to access the troubleshooting information. Click on the show button for the profile in the first block of information.

When the windows file explorer opens. Shut down Thunderbird press Ctrl+A to select everything in the folder shown. then press Ctrl+C to copy it.

Open a USB drive and paste everything into it. (my profile is 50+ Gb so knowing how large a dire is needed helps. I need a 100 Gb one)

no go to your new computer

Open Thunderbird. Repeat the process to open the profile folder in Windows file explorer. Close Thunderbird Open the USB drive and CTRL+A to select everything and Ctrl+C to copy. Paste it into the profile folder Thunderbird opened, replacing the existing stuff. YOu will get lots of replace error messages. YOu are replacing, not skipping.

Start Thunderbird. The copy is done.


You might just get away with acknowledging the error message and then closing the relevant tab. You might also fix it by deleting the session.json file which holds the open tabs from your newly installed profile and restoring the profiles.ini file. But I really don't recommend it. Despite it being quicker

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Matt
Matt
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Chosen Solution

I have not read you post in it's entirely just skimmed it. This is my method of moving and differs in a few places to the official narrative. Mostly the differences escape from opening files in the file system that are not in the profile and managing the profile per installs insistence you use the newly created profile is it messes up not or sometime in the future. I also to not suggest editing the [profiles.ini as the information in there is now linked to in other dependent install files and that causes it's own issues. [Point 9]

go to your old computer. Start Thunderbird close all open TABS. (this is important as you have found with your error messages trying to open a PDF file [point 8]) Use the Help > troubleshoot mode menu to access the troubleshooting information. Click on the show button for the profile in the first block of information.

When the windows file explorer opens. Shut down Thunderbird press Ctrl+A to select everything in the folder shown. then press Ctrl+C to copy it.

Open a USB drive and paste everything into it. (my profile is 50+ Gb so knowing how large a dire is needed helps. I need a 100 Gb one)

no go to your new computer

Open Thunderbird. Repeat the process to open the profile folder in Windows file explorer. Close Thunderbird Open the USB drive and CTRL+A to select everything and Ctrl+C to copy. Paste it into the profile folder Thunderbird opened, replacing the existing stuff. YOu will get lots of replace error messages. YOu are replacing, not skipping.

Start Thunderbird. The copy is done.


You might just get away with acknowledging the error message and then closing the relevant tab. You might also fix it by deleting the session.json file which holds the open tabs from your newly installed profile and restoring the profiles.ini file. But I really don't recommend it. Despite it being quicker

dperrow
dperrow Question owner
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Thank you Matt! Well, I was focusing on the <username> being the problem, which wasn't the issue at all!! It was the Tabs that were open when I did the Thunderbird backup! Wow - Thank you so much!!