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

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
Asara ya Echekwara

Trying to access an archive of emails from a 2006 version of thunderbird

bsgaines

I have some old emails with information that I need to access. I've saved them on disk, but haven't used them in years. Now I need to try to access the files. The outer folder is named "mail" and 3 subfolders are named "local folders" and then two named by the pop servers they were associated with.

Inside the folders, I have files named inbox (no file extension) and inbox.msf. The files lacking extensions seem to contain all the data.

I can't seem to import these messages into a current version of thunderbird. Any ideas on how I might be able to access the old emails?

I have some old emails with information that I need to access. I've saved them on disk, but haven't used them in years. Now I need to try to access the files. The outer folder is named "mail" and 3 subfolders are named "local folders" and then two named by the pop servers they were associated with. Inside the folders, I have files named inbox (no file extension) and inbox.msf. The files lacking extensions seem to contain all the data. I can't seem to import these messages into a current version of thunderbird. Any ideas on how I might be able to access the old emails?
Gụọ azịza a na nghọta

Asịsa Ahọpụtara

Thanks... it's a little tricky, so in case anyone has the same problems down the line: you need to use "import mbox file" (which seemed to me would work for some .mbox file extension). It worked.

Thanks!

All Replies (4)

Here's a screenshot of the folder contents.

Install this add-on and use it to import the Inbox files into your current profile. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/

Asịsa Ahọpụtara

Thanks... it's a little tricky, so in case anyone has the same problems down the line: you need to use "import mbox file" (which seemed to me would work for some .mbox file extension). It worked.

Thanks!

The mbox file is the one w/o an extension.