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Moving my archived messages to external storage

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  • Last reply by Mike L

Mike L
Mike L

I am using Thunderbird 128.0 under Windows 10. I routinely archive old emails, with the archives stored in my local Thunderbird folders.

I'd like to periodically delete the older archives, but to keep some sort of backup copy. Is there any way I can copy or export the archive folders to somewhere else, such as another folder on my computer or an external drive?

And if I succeed in doing this, will it be possible to search the copy, and to restore individual messages if necessary?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike

I am using Thunderbird 128.0 under Windows 10. I routinely archive old emails, with the archives stored in my local Thunderbird folders. I'd like to periodically delete the older archives, but to keep some sort of backup copy. Is there any way I can copy or export the archive folders to somewhere else, such as another folder on my computer or an external drive? And if I succeed in doing this, will it be possible to search the copy, and to restore individual messages if necessary? Thanks in advance for any help. Mike

Chosen solution

What are you trying to achieve in the first place? There is no benefit in periodically deleting older archives from the Thunderbird profile. I.e. it won't make Thunderbird running faster, and disk space is cheap.

What's highly recommended though is backing up your Thunderbird profile on a regular basis. And it certainly would make sense to store backups on an external device. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile

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christ1
christ1
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Chosen Solution

What are you trying to achieve in the first place? There is no benefit in periodically deleting older archives from the Thunderbird profile. I.e. it won't make Thunderbird running faster, and disk space is cheap.

What's highly recommended though is backing up your Thunderbird profile on a regular basis. And it certainly would make sense to store backups on an external device. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data#w_backing-up-a-profile

Mike L
Mike L Question owner

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I do back up the entire profile at least once per week, to an external hard drive. I just thought that by getting rid of old archives I could reduce the size of the profile and make Thunderbird generally more efficient. But from what you say, that seems not to be the case. So I won't bother.

Very helpful reply. Thanks again.

Mike

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