Thunderbird Community Forum

Hi folks

When I tried to start up Thunderbird this evening, it has taken me to a set-up page. I seem to have lost all the settings, all my previous (about 3000 !) e-mails in my Inbox.

I obviously don't really want to set it all up again, but it has been working for years without a problem, and then suddenly this happens. I had now a 'warning' message saying that Mozilla Thunderbird wants to make changes to your computer - do you accept? I don't want it to make any changes unless it is to revert back to how it was.

Can anybody help me?

Thanks.

I use Thunderbird 115.18.0 on a Windows 7 machine. I wish to transfer all my Thunderbird data to a machine running Linux Mint 21.3 which has Thunderbird 128.12.0esr. I have not been successful after many tries. Could this be because the Thunderbird revisions are different? If so, can I get 115.18.0 to install on my Mint machine? If not how should I proceed? I have already tried creating a new .thunderbird directory with ********.default directory from the other machine. I have also tried a new .thunderbird directory with a the ********default-release directory as directed by one site.

I'm struggling to understand where Thunderbird stores everything on a Windows computer so that I can use my incremental automated backup system to keep things backed up.

This support article :

[- Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data]

only mentions about the <user>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles folder but there is also a <user>\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles folder that appears to be used and needed.

There is a ton of other conflicting 3rd party information out there so I'm hoping for a definitive answer here.

My question is : Can I backup just the '<user>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles and <user>\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles and be assured that I will be fully able to recover my email client in the case of needing a complete reinstall ?

20 years of emails apparently gone. I have been trying to add TB to a new laptop.

I used the export function in TB and was directed to create a zip file since it was over 2GB. I used 7Zip to view the file and it did not show up in the program. I did this a few times and it kept doing the same thing. When it actually worked I got about 2% of the emails. I believe that, as a result of doing this, that the profile was corrupted by the process of creating a zip file. The result? The original profile on the old laptop is no longer valid. Most of the time when I tried to unzip the file it displayed an error message. I have been through so much over the last few days I cannot remember the entire error but it had the word invalid in it. A red banner across the top of the screen.

I have scoured all my devices for profiles and have tried every one I could find. I was told that using old profiles without them going through the process of TB versions that unexpected results may happen. The latest result, which happens with every profile I use is what is in the attached image. Nothing in or under the inbox, and all this under the outbox.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

As of yesterday my Thunderbird account vanished, screen asking to set up an account. I am too old to be an IT expert, and I need detailed step by step guidance how to restore that account, full of Inbox emails and folders/subfolders. If it matters (depending on requirements?), my address is @verizon.net - which is pop3 but I have no problem opening the same emails on different devices, as if it were imap (verizon taken over by aol). Pain in the neck, hope to get help.

I'm trying to transfer the Profile folder from my current laptop to my new one. I followed the directions here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer but must've made a mistake because none of my many Local folders have populated Thunderbird in the new laptop. Also, the GB size, number of files and number of folders show to be very different on the new laptop vs. the current one.

I'm inclined to just start over but have a question. Can I simply delete the contents of the "Thunderbird" folder under "Roaming" in my new laptop and try again to paste into it? Or are there some items in that folder that were inserted when I first downloaded TB into my new laptop so that doing a complete deletion would remove those and they wouldn't be replaced when I try pasting again? If so, how do I get around that?

Thanks very much for your help.

I am having trouble moving Thunderbird data from one computer to another. The first computer is Windows 10 32-bit that has been running T-Bird 140.3.0esr for several years. The second is Windows 11 64-bit running T-Bird's latest version. I tried both procedures cited in the Mozilla article at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer.

I first did the 2nd method cited -- Win 10 to Win 11. It worked but the new computer is missing Local Folders and contacts organized as groups.

I then did the 1st procedure cited, using copy and paste commands. It did not work at all and now T-Bird will not load. I get this message: "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."

So, different operating systems with different bit specs and different T-Bird versions.

I thought of updating the Win 10 computer to T-Bird's current version and then doing the Win-10-to-Win-11 copy/move procedure but thought it best to ask here first. Thanks for any help.

I have installed Thunderbird on a new computer and copied my profile from the old computer as per instructions on the Mozilla site. However on the install on the new computer the LOCAL FOLDERS, sub folders which I use as archive storage do not contain the messages as per the my old computer. The sub folders are named correctly.

I have attached photos of the sub folders from the old computer showing data in the sub folder and also the new computer showing no data.

Please advise how to retrieve the data for the new computer.

Hello, I have read various post saying the profiles folder is %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\ but on my side I have many folder, and it can explain why when I use a backup tool, I loose all my e-mail. I have - C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles - C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles - C:\Users\Me\Administrateur\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles

And how to have only one ? I have tried to edit setting to use only C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles but the application refuse it.

Hi, So I used Thunderbird to create a zipped backup file of my profile. I got the warning that if the file size if more than 2 GB I may want to make a manual backup. I proceeded, and ended up with a file that was 15 GB. I then uninstalled Thunderbird, reinstalled it, and tried to import my backup file. Thunderbird gave an error, saying the file is too large, and I should manually extract it. Okay, I tried, but Windows 11 failed to extract the file. I then used a third-party app to extract the files. This gave me a c2140ucr.default folder that contained three direct subfolders and many, many files. I located my inbox.ca file, which is what I really want, but I cannot find a way to import it into Thunderbird using the Tools menu. Any ideas on how to recover my previous profile would be appreciated. Thanks.

I want to install Thunderbird on my new computer (Windows 11) from my old (Windows 10). But I cannot open the downloaded version of Thunderbird - it keeps saying there is no profile. Of course there is no profile before I have installed it! I de-installed and re-installed the Thunderbird program, but it keeps saying the same thing. How can I open Thunderbird to install the profile?

I copied my Thunderbird profile from an old Win 10 computer whose motherboard was failing, and I managed to get the profile copied before I completely lost access. Now I no longer have access to it. I did not use Mozilla Backup. I downloaded Thunderbird on a new Win 11 computer. On the new computer, I set up Thunderbird. Then I deleted the new profile and pasted the old profile. Now Thunderbird will not open at all. It says, "Your Thunderbird profile can not be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible." I have uninstalled and reinstalled Thunderbird, but I still get that message. How can I fix this? Thanks, Teresa

Hello, Apparently, when changing the name of the .thunderbird folder, to hide it, Thunderbird 140.3.0esr (64 bits) continues to exhibit messages. I do not find where they are located. Any idea? Thanks SG

Xubuntu (Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS) Thunderbird 140.3.0esr (64 bits) Firefox 128.12.0esr (64 bits) Zotero version 7.0.11 (64-bit) LibreOffice 24.2.5.2 (X86_64)

I am troubleshooting a problem that arose after I migrated a Thunderbird mail account from an old Win10 64-bit PC to a new Win11 64-bit PC.

I installed TB on the new machine and opened the program without doing anything else, then closed the program. TB created installs.ini and profiles.ini files, both with the following as the last line:

Locked=1

This line had not been in either .ini file on the old installation.

I edited these files to point to the backed-up TB profile from the old machine, but I decided to leave the Locked=1 line in the .ini files.

Was this a mistake? I have a strange problem with the new installation, which I won't report until I understand what the "Locked=1" means, and whether I was ill-advised to leave it/them in. Fortunately there has been no evident loss of mail data.

Thanks in advance, Phil

I have created a new IMAP account where previously I had a POP3 account. The IMAP acct now fetches email from the same GoDaddy server account as the POP3 account used. I want to continue using the same Local Folders location as before, in order to maintain and update the large amount of selectively retained email permanently stored there.

Previously with POP3, I had redirected Local Folders from the default location on the C: drive to a different location (K:\...\Thunderbird\Local Folders) on a data drive. Under Account Settings > Local Folders, Thunderbird still points to the desired data drive directory (K:\...\Thunderbird\Local Folders). Does this mean that the new IMAP account will also use the redirected Local Folders location or will it use the Default location on the C: drive listed after creating the IMAP account? I ask because under Account Settings > Server Settings for the IMAP Mail Server, the "Local Directory" entry points to C:\Users\MCM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\......

Perhaps the "Local Directory" is not related to the "Local Folders" location?

Thank you for helping with this somewhat confusing situation.

Michael M.

Hello, I've just installed TB on a new computer (Windows11) and followed the directions given on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer to move data from the old computer to the new but when I open TB on the new computer it simply creates a new profile instead of the one I've copied into the C:\Users\...Appata\Local and \Roaming folders. What do I do to get TB to use the copied profiles? Thanks.

I have two profiles in my Thunderbird account. I want to create desktop shortcut for each profile. That way I can use the shortcut to get my email. On on profile I just want it to go straight to that account without asking for a password. On the other one I want it to ask me for a password. Is that possible and if so how can I do that?

I created a new installation, Win11 64-bit, and edited installs.ini and profiles.ini to use the profile left from a previous Win10 64-bit installation.

I get messages to the Inbox correctly, and the structure of what would be Local Folders seems intact. However, I have two problems: (1) when I try to save a message in another folder, I get a dialog saying my disk is full (there are more than 200GB available) (see image); and (2) the "Local Folders" folder looks to be in the Trash. There is also some "weirdness" in the menu when I try to move a message from Inbox (see image).

I have never tried to export from TB but if I can export the Inbox and the other folders with saved messages, I might be able to do a fresh install and then import those.

Any other ideas?

Thx -Phil

Recently, I accidently upgraded my Win10 Home to Win11 Home. It didn't work at all, so I tried to recover my original C:\ drive with Acronis True Image 2021. That did NOT work, so I was forced to Install everything anew. Since years hence, I have my Thunderbird profile, and all my emails (some 9 GB in size), stored on a separate HDD. In my experience, MS will always just screw up the C:\ drive, and not affect other HDD's. Learned that the hard way. The profile is still safe and undisturbed on that other HDD, but I can't seem to be able to access it. It holds some important info there, like my addressbook, and licensenumbers. I am including some pics: The 'Appdata' and the 2 '.inifiles' are from the C:\ drive; the 'marked entry' is from the other HDD. It seems I have been here before: I just found a 'memo to self' pointing out that the dates of the file(s) are important.... Must have been years ago (and I'm not getting younger). Thanks on beforehand.

Can I safely access my Profile, which is on a Windows partition, when I am using Thunderbird under Linux (Fedora) on a different partition?

My computer is set up to dual boot using Windows 10 and Fedora Linux. I use Thunderbird and access my emails using POP3.

I use Windows most of the time and therefore my Thunderbird profile is on the Windows partition. But when I'm using Linux I sometimes like to be able to access my emails using Thunderbird. I have set up access in the Linux Thunderbird profile so that it points to my profile that is on the Windows partition.

In some earlier versions of Thunderbird that were around in 2022, I found that if I used Linux to open Thunderbird I could access my profile that was on the Windows partition and read and send emails, but then when I rebooted to Windows and tried to run Thunderbird, I found that my profile was broken and Thunderbird under Windows could not get to my emails.

But, confusingly, with some versions of Thunderbird, the Linux version of Thunderbird did not break my profile on the Windows partition.

I tried asking questions about this issue on the Forum back in 2022 but I received answers saying that what I was trying to do was very "dangerous" and I should not even attempt it (even though it did work sometimes with some versions of Thunderbird).

The last time I tried this was in 2022, and I have not tried it since then.

So, my question is "Is Thunderbird robust enough to allow me to access my Windows Thunderbird profile when I am running Thunderbird using Linux (Fedora) on a different partition?