Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Avatar for Username

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

Restore thunderbird profile from a crashed Win 10 desktop

  • 1 reply
  • 0 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by david

Howard Galin
Howard Galin

My desktop win 10 computer system crashed. While the operating system was zapped, the actual c: drive was intact. A new c: drive was installed with win 11 pro but when I connect the old drive to the new system, I am locked out of the user>apps>thunderbird folders ( access denied). Is there a way of overriding this security feature? I was hoping to be able to import my profile with several email addresses and their associated archival data. This is more complicated than I was expecting.

My desktop win 10 computer system crashed. While the operating system was zapped, the actual c: drive was intact. A new c: drive was installed with win 11 pro but when I connect the old drive to the new system, I am locked out of the user>apps>thunderbird folders ( access denied). Is there a way of overriding this security feature? I was hoping to be able to import my profile with several email addresses and their associated archival data. This is more complicated than I was expecting.

All Replies (1)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor

If the lockout is by windows file explorer, click to windows file explorer, click the view>show>hidden items. Normally, you can restore thunderbird with these steps:

  1. ensure thunderbird is installed and NOT running
  2. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
  3. this should place you in appdata\roaming folder
  4. delete the thunderbird folder
  5. you should be in Appdata\roaming folder , copy&paste the Thunderbird folder from old PC.
  6. start thunderbird and all should be there
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.