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

Cannot locate Thunderbird profile folder on Windows 11

more options

I'm trying to move Thunderbird to a new PC. Both PC's are running Windows 11. I've followed the instructions for locating my profile. According to "Troubleshooting Information" my profile is supposed to be located at "C:\Users\photo\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\k6i7koof.default-release\Mail\Local Folders". When I click on the "Open Folder" button, I receive an error message that the folder does not exist. When I try navigating to the folder manually, I can not find a "Thunderbird" folder under "AppData\Roaming". I've selected "Show Hidden Files/Folders" under Windows Explorer. I know my profile exists because I can access a set of Local Folders when I'm in Thunderbird. I'd really like to move those folders over to my new PC. Any help to find the profile folder will be much appreciated.

I'm trying to move Thunderbird to a new PC. Both PC's are running Windows 11. I've followed the instructions for locating my profile. According to "Troubleshooting Information" my profile is supposed to be located at "C:\Users\photo\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\k6i7koof.default-release\Mail\Local Folders". When I click on the "Open Folder" button, I receive an error message that the folder does not exist. When I try navigating to the folder manually, I can not find a "Thunderbird" folder under "AppData\Roaming". I've selected "Show Hidden Files/Folders" under Windows Explorer. I know my profile exists because I can access a set of Local Folders when I'm in Thunderbird. I'd really like to move those folders over to my new PC. Any help to find the profile folder will be much appreciated.

Chosen solution

More than one way to skin the cat... I ended up doing an EXPORT of my profile on the old PC to an external hard drive, then IMPORTED it to my new PC. Voila, all my folders showed up just fine -- which is what I was trying to accomplish. Thanks sfhowes for the pointer to the other solution. It came in about the same time I was doing the import and probably would have solved the problem.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (4)

more options

Are you using a portable version, or did you do the install from https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/ ? Or is it from the Microsoft store? Highlight a folder in Local Folders, rightclick and select properties. That should show you the location of the file and that should let you surmise where the full profile is.

Helpful?

more options

I downloaded/installed Thunderbird from the Microsoft Store. Doing what you said shows C:/Users/photo/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/k6i7koof.default-release/Mail/Local Folders/Family as the location. I get a "Windows can't find" error message. Following the path, once again, the "Thunderbird" folder doesn't exist under AppData/Roaming/ ... or, at least, I can't see it -- and, apparently, Windows can't either.

Helpful?

more options

Helpful?

more options

Chosen Solution

More than one way to skin the cat... I ended up doing an EXPORT of my profile on the old PC to an external hard drive, then IMPORTED it to my new PC. Voila, all my folders showed up just fine -- which is what I was trying to accomplish. Thanks sfhowes for the pointer to the other solution. It came in about the same time I was doing the import and probably would have solved the problem.

Helpful?

Ask a question

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.