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Greetings,

I perform a daily thumb drive backup of Thunderbird in the event that my PC crashes (which it has) so I don't loose emails and contacts. I'm aware of two methods to do this. I've tried both, and one method saves more file folders than the other. My question is: Which is correct to use?

One method is described here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-export The other method is accessed from the main page of Thunderbird: Import/Export > Backup, select OK and then the location and folder where you want the data to be transferred.

The first method captures four main folders and other files listed below them. The second method captures ten folders and all of the same files as in the first method.

Because they are different, I'm unsure of which to use and, additionally, why would two methods be offered?

Thank you in advance for your comments and advice.

Thunderbird Mail Accounts Not Imported from 5 GB Backup

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to restore my Thunderbird setup from a 5 GB backup/export file.

Thunderbird already recommended that I manually extract the backup file and then import the extracted folder. I followed these instructions, but after importing the folder, none of my mail accounts are restored.

The backup file is about 5 GB in size, so I assume the data is there, but Thunderbird does not recognize or restore the email accounts.

Has anyone experienced this issue? How can I properly restore the mail accounts and their emails from this backup?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

What do I have to do to get help in this Forum? This is the second time I've posted a Question seeking help, and yet again it is being ignored. Do I have join some secret clique or group? If so please tell me?

Due to issues with upgrading from Ubuntu 24.04.1 to 26.04.1, I decided to just start from scratch with a new clean install.

After finalising the install, I copied across my Thunderbird data to the new partition, merging directories as the data copied across. But, somewhere in the transfer I lost about the last two years emails, with only emails up until 12/24 being available.

There are a lot a important emails I need to recover, and I'm guessing they're still on my PC, in the old partition, and I desperately need help to recover them.

I changed POP3 email password to an app password and Thunderbird would not recognize it even though I updated in Security. I was told to delete the Thunderbird account then set it back up which I did--I did not check the box to delete files. Finally the new account was able to bring in new emails (POP3) but the old folders/emails are not there.

I read that I should go to %appdata%, roaming, Thunderbird but the dates are from years ago--do I go further to find my data or is there another path or something else I should do?

Unless they were backed up somewhere within Thunderbird, I don't think I have any backup.

Can you please help? Thank you.

Hello, I am hoping someone can kindly help me. In the process of copying folders from POP to IMAP in order to make my account accessible on my new Andriod IPad, my sub folders disappeared the next the day on my POP account. I had not yet started to copy sub folders to IMap. I cannot find them in the Trash and I fear I may have deleted anyway. Is there anyway I can find these missing folders? I am sure I did not delete anything except maybe Trash emails. Thank you for any help Martyn

System:

Win 11 Home (lastest updates, also my notebook's latest updates from the manufacturer) Thunderbird version 151.0

Okay, this is a multiple clusterf#@$.

I ended up needing to do a Win 11 Home "reset" keeping data. But I needed to back up some files first. But my back up drive was full. Usually, it's because of EaseUs ToDo not deleting files and just adding and adding to the system backup. But that wasn't the main issue: my Thunderbird profile (which I backup separately) was about 280 GIGABYTES in size! This is an extension of a prior problem for which nobody on here new how to solve and certainly nobody from Mozilla chimed in to help. So I did what I'd done before (but it'd never been like this) and delected a couple of THOUSAND seemingly redundant iterations of files from my profile, but NONE of the folders inside the profile.

Of course the Win11 reset deleted Thunderbird and all the profile information. No big problem, I've done this before...but it didn't work copying in all of the old files (from my backup drive) into a new profile and selecting that profile to boot. So, I went to the "Recycle Bin", undeleted all of those files back into my backed-up profile. But I'm only able to get Thunderbird to see all of my address book information. It is not finding my Thunderbird and email account settings nor my email messages (21 years worth). I 100% did NOT delete my email messages (c:\users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\PROFILENAME\Mail).

I can laboriously redo my email account information (five different accounts) and Thunderbird user settings, but I really DESPERATELY NEED HELP restoring my email messages.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!

I'm moving from Windows to Mac. I exported my Profile from the Windows setup to a ZIP. The import to the Mac seemed to go smoothly but the result is I got all my custom headings I'd nested under Inbox (etc.) but none of the contents. The ZIP is well over 1 gig in size so clearly the export caught all but none of the contents imported. '

For example, under Inbox I created a Heading named Receipts that was populated by receipts from purchases. The import added that heading but none of the emails under that Heading.

I tried simply copying the Profile file from the Windows profile folder to the Mac profile folder but that clearly did not work.

I'm on the edge of desperation here. I'd greatly appreciate any and all help.

In reference to the article [[Knowledge Base Article|http://mzl.la/1ApHiU3]], "Move Thunderbird data to a new computer", this misses the transfer of Local Folders.

The instructions only include moving the Thunderbird application data folder with profile information but does not include Local Folders, after completing these instructions the Local Folders will not be present on the new computer.

The path for Local Folders is under Account Settings > Local Folders, this folder needs to be copied to the similar path on the new computer as well.

I have copied emails from a Windows 10 to Windows 11 computer using these instructions and it appears to work.

I asked this question on Google and the AI answer although sounding logical and easy did not work.

I have a number of saved emails that I would like to add to my local folders. Any help will be appreciated.

I am moving the host of my email domain to a different provider and I want to protect my historical emails. I have set up the emails as POP3 so I should have all the emails on my PC, but in the past when I transferred my business email to a new host I didn't back up the database. So, when I put the new email host settings into outlook, it over-wrote the database and all my historical emails were wiped, and it turned out that my back up and archive pst files were both corrupted so couldn't restore them ( I have since managed to retrieve everything but it was a long process I don't want to go through again if I can help it). So I'd like to know where the database is stored so I can duplicate it first. Any help would be appreciated.

Tell me how I can make Thunderbird work for me. As I mentioned, when I try to import data from Outlook 2016 running on Win 7, it brings up a screen saying "Importing... 33%, then freezes". I've tried waiting for half an hour, but the import never completes.

Outlook for Mac will no longer support local folders sometime in October 2026. I need to move my local folders to Thunderbird. I don't see any options for doing this.

Hello, I hope you are doing well.

I spent several hours yesterday and today moving all my Gmail messages to my Yahoo account in Thunderbird on Windows 11 25H2 Home in the United States.

I expected my emails to appear in my account when I logged into the Yahoo Mail site. Instead, my account has no messages at all.

How can I correct this? I don't want to lose all my emails, I want them in Yahoo instead.

NOTE: Please change my email address to JAL1862@yahoo. I am closing my Gmail account by the end of the day on September 30.

Dear Sir or Madam, Critical information is not readily available when one wants to import from Outlook. (I've wasted the better part of a day, discovering these omissions, to the point...I will give Thunderbird one more chance at a successful install, then Gone forever.) (1) Will not work with POP3 connectivity. (2) Will not work with mismatched bit-configurations, i.e., 32-bit vs 64-bit. (3) Will not transfer the format of the Outlet message--contents, yes; format, no (4) When "Cannot file Profile" message appears when trying to import from Outlook---which "Profile" is Thunderbird looking for? [Yahoo! (for those servers under Yahoo!'s control), Outlook, Thunderbird] Not clear at all. I finally gave up on trying to import Outlook, so I entered my Contact information manually. But then, when the "Profile" problem arose, and I created a new Profile...darnit, I lost my Contacts, so I had to enter them all over again.

Oh, I managed to get Thunderbird to work, I think. Verifying my emails were getting downloaded. Now, who knows why, My emails are not coming through into my Inbox.

None of the methods listed, either via Thunderbird or on the Internet in general work. Or, if they are supposed to work, the directions are not complete or accurate.

I'm trying to move stored emails from Outlook 2019 POP3 Windows10 32-bit into your latest Thunderbird. NO luck. Yes, I get a .CSV file from Outlook, and change it to MS-DOS version, then nothing. Similar with names/address. There is a lot of talk about having to use EML as the transfer medium--but, Outlook can't create EML. Worse, within Thunderbird, even with you Import/ExportTools NG add-on, there is no commone EML linkage to make the transfers work. SO...where is a guaranteed method to make these transfers work?

As of now Thunderbird is just a crude mail client--I can receive emails, I can send emails (but have to manually enter the address). None of the old Outlook emails are available. None of the old Outlook addresses are available.

Don't mean to be so cynical; but, I'm so tired of software making promises and then not delivering.

Robert Yohe, Jr.

Hello.. I was deleteing some mail in my inbox and then the program burped and said there is no more space. I tried to download new mail and got the no space message when I noticed that the whole inbox was gone.

I managed to recover the inbox folder and now I'm trying to put it back into the email program through windows explorer but when I try to paste it into the folder with the index.msf file I get the error that I don't have permission and must have administrative permission to copy the folder. I went through the properties and security tab and gave "everyone" full permission for the inbox, but it still won't let me past the folder back where it belongs.

How can I get the Inbox with it's mail back into my Thunderbird program?....

I'm using a Lenovo laptop with Windows 11.

thanks, David

I am using TB as my email client. I use it to manage my email from Greenby who are an email and web hosting service operated by Enix Ltd. The ISP Plusnet has migrated customer's email from their servers to Greenby's as they no longer provide an email service. I am in the process of leaving Greenby (A look at TrustPilot reviews will tell you why.) At some point I will be closing my Greenby account as it attracts large amounts of spam and scam emails, which it is time consuming, difficult or impossible to block.

I want to archive my email to my hard drive and I have read the guidance on how to do this using TB. I am quite happy to keep the TB software on my PC.

Will I need to keep TB software to read my archived email? Does TB function if it not acting as a client from a third party server?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Sorry for long post. Struggling to get backup done, running out of time and other things in life now getting really urgent . Got my Yahoo Mail headache again today. Please can someone advise me? Thunderbird 150.0.2, Mac OS 10.15 7 Catalina, 2018 Macbook Pro.

Not tech-savvy so finding it hard to find what settings to use in TB. Other people's post answers always seem to show dialog options I'm not seeing on my computer

AIMS: - Prevent folders from deleting in my backup, if I delete stuff on Yahoo. - Backup Yahoo emails to a stable, local copy on an external drive, so I can access old emails + attachments independently without it trying to reconnect / synch with Yahoo Mail - After backup, delete more mail to reduce YM storage from 39GB to less than 15. Feel reluctant to do this yet, as I already lost a big folder of work from my backup by trying to muddle my way through this. - Ideally would like to end up with a local copy I can access in Mail Backup X What I've tried; - Backup using Mail Backup X. Took 18 hours and some large folders were incomplete so I tried again after splitting them up in Yahoo Mail. I liked the software but something went wrong on the 2nd try and it now won't connect to Yahoo at all. Deleted and replaced 3rd party password multiple times. Server details are accepted, but then the icon just spins endlessly, hence trying Tbird instead. Deleted the MBX account which meant no error logs available (Yes. I should not have done that). - Tried both IMAP and POP backup using TBird - have added TBird ImportExport add-on but have no idea what settings to use, advice welcomed Questions/assumptions that may be wrong: - Was advised to use server export.imap.mail.yahoo.com, what's the reason for this and would it work? Can't remember if Yahoo allowed me to enter this setting. Sorry, hard to recall as I tried so many times. - POP only backs up 1 folder - Inbox. Really?? that's not a solution then - TBird's default is IMAP so surely it would always try and connect to synch, and so would any copied backup accounts? - if I get the ImportExport add-on settings right, can I *really* achieve the goal of a local offline backup I can trust, that I could keep on an external drive and access later via Mail Backup X?

Dear Sir or Madam, I downloaded and installed Thunderbird. Then, I wanted to import my emails and email addresses from my Outlook 2019 (as part of Office 2019). The emails did transfer. Not sure if my email addresses (called contacts?) transferred. At the end of these transfers, I no longer had Office 2019. My taskbar icons for Word, Excel, and Outlook gone. The only "Outlook" I now had was the "Outlook app." Office 2019 gone. Apparently, it got replaced with Office 365. Not at all what I wanted.

Did I so something wrong? Is this something to be expected?

Thank you.