Changes made to contacts in address book are lost the next time I startup Thunderbird.

Please check Tools > Error Console for warnings or errors.

Have some errors as follows but no solution?

gloda.indexer: Problem during [job:folder id:64 items:0 offset:0 goal:null], bailing: NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND: Component returned failure code: 0x80520012 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND) [nsIMsgLocalMailFolder.getDatabaseWithReparse]

   _indexerEnterFolder resource:///modules/gloda/IndexMsg.sys.mjs:638
   _worker_folderIndex resource:///modules/gloda/IndexMsg.sys.mjs:1258
   workBatch resource:///modules/gloda/GlodaIndexer.sys.mjs:1071
   callbackDriver resource:///modules/gloda/GlodaIndexer.sys.mjs:858
   _timerCallbackDriver resource:///modules/gloda/GlodaIndexer.sys.mjs:784

GlodaIndexer.sys.mjs:1159:21

Hi mikeh5,

Thanks for posting the Error Console output. The NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND message is related to Thunderbird's Global Search (Gloda) indexer, so by itself it doesn't necessarily explain why changes to your contacts aren't being saved.

Since the changes appear to work until Thunderbird is restarted, the address-book database may be having trouble being written or may be corrupted. Similar Thunderbird cases have been resolved by rebuilding the affected address book.

Before making any changes, I'd recommend backing up your Thunderbird profile. Then, if this is your Personal Address Book, you can export the contacts to an LDIF file, close Thunderbird, and rebuild the address-book database. If you tell us which operating system you're using and whether the affected book is the Personal Address Book or another address book, we can give you the exact steps.

I am using Windows 11 on a laptop and the address book is Contacts that I uploaded from another previous older laptop that I used to use. Please provide instructions as I do not know how to backup profile or rebuild address book database.

Hi mikeh5,

Yes. Since the contacts were imported from your old laptop, let's make a backup first and then rebuild the address book. Don't delete anything until the backup and export are complete.

Back up your Thunderbird profile. In Thunderbird, go to ≡ > Tools > Export, choose Export, and save the ZIP file somewhere safe. This includes your accounts, messages, address books and settings. Open the Address Book. Select the “Contacts” address book in the left-hand pane, right-click it and choose Export. Save it as an LDIF file somewhere safe. This gives you a separate copy of all the contacts. Close Thunderbird completely. Open Thunderbird again and go to Help > More Troubleshooting Information. Find “Profile Folder” and click “Open Folder”. Then close Thunderbird again. In the profile folder, look for the address-book database. Since you're using a recent version of Thunderbird, the address book is stored in an SQLite database. If “Contacts” is the imported address book, its filename may not simply be abook.sqlite, so don't delete or rename files at random.

Because your address book is named “Contacts” rather than the default “Personal Address Book”, I'd like to avoid telling you to remove the wrong database. If you can post a screenshot of the files in the Thunderbird profile folder, we can identify the correct one before you change anything.

Once we identify it, we can rename the database rather than delete it, restart Thunderbird so it creates a fresh address book, and then import the LDIF backup. This approach has resolved cases where Thunderbird accepts address-book changes but does not retain them after restarting.

here is files in profile folder:

Volume in drive C is Acer
Volume Serial Number is D092-16A0

Directory of C:\Users\mikeh\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\rxf43mmn.default-esr

2026-10-04 02:11 PM <DIR> . 2025-02-25 05:32 PM <DIR> .. 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 327,680 abook-1.sqlite 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 32,768 abook-1.sqlite-shm 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 0 abook-1.sqlite-wal 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 360,448 abook-2.sqlite 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 32,768 abook-2.sqlite-shm 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 0 abook-2.sqlite-wal 2026-09-13 04:01 PM 262,144 abook.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,768 abook.sqlite-shm 2026-09-13 04:01 PM 0 abook.sqlite-wal 2026-10-04 09:08 AM 24 addons.json 2026-10-03 09:10 AM 717 addonStartup.json.lz4 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 30,864 AlternateServices.bin 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 524,288 blist.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 98,304 bounce-tracking-protection.sqlite 2026-08-31 07:11 PM <DIR> calendar-data 2026-08-12 07:33 AM 229,376 cert9.db 2026-10-03 09:10 AM 200 compatibility.ini 2026-10-04 12:11 PM 262,144 content-prefs.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:22 PM 524,288 cookies.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,768 cookies.sqlite-shm 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,824 cookies.sqlite-wal 2026-10-04 01:54 PM <DIR> crashes 2026-10-04 02:09 PM <DIR> datareporting 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 112 encrypted-openpgp-passphrase.txt 2026-08-12 07:33 AM 296 extension-preferences.json 2026-10-04 09:08 AM 6,091 extensions.json 2025-07-10 09:43 AM 5,242,880 favicons.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,768 favicons.sqlite-shm 2025-07-10 09:43 AM 0 favicons.sqlite-wal 2026-10-04 02:11 PM 0 filelist.txt 2026-10-04 02:05 PM 29,138 folderCache.json 2026-10-02 09:39 AM 2,494 folderTree.json 2025-02-25 05:38 PM 262,144 formhistory.sqlite 2026-10-04 02:04 PM 4,816,896 global-messages-db.sqlite 2026-09-17 01:48 PM 689 handlers.json 2026-10-04 12:16 PM 458,752 history.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,768 history.sqlite-shm 2026-10-04 12:16 PM 0 history.sqlite-wal 2025-02-26 09:29 AM <DIR> ImapMail 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 491,520 impab.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,768 impab.sqlite-shm 2025-02-26 12:07 PM 0 impab.sqlite-wal 2026-08-12 07:33 AM 294,912 key4.db 2025-12-05 12:07 PM 2,693 logins-backup.json 2026-08-12 07:33 AM 360,448 logins.db 2026-08-12 07:33 AM 2,863 logins.json 2025-02-26 12:53 PM <DIR> Mail 2025-02-13 02:29 PM 472 mailViews.dat 2025-02-25 05:32 PM <DIR> minidumps 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 229,376 openpgp.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 0 parent.lock 2026-10-04 12:15 PM 229,376 permissions.sqlite 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 508 pkcs11.txt 2026-10-04 01:22 PM 5,242,880 places.sqlite 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 32,768 places.sqlite-shm 2026-10-04 01:55 PM 1,082,168 places.sqlite-wal 2026-10-04 02:04 PM 71,451 prefs.js 2026-10-04 01:54 PM <DIR> saved-telemetry-pings 2026-10-04 08:36 AM <DIR> scheduled-notifications 2026-08-12 07:33 AM 297 search.json.mozlz4 2025-02-25 05:32 PM <DIR> security_state 2026-10-04 01:58 PM 359 session.json 2026-10-04 01:22 PM 245 session.json.backup 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 137 sessionCheckpoints.json 2026-10-04 09:08 AM <DIR> settings 2026-07-31 07:37 PM <DIR> shader-cache 2026-10-04 09:08 AM 3,146 SiteSecurityServiceState.bin 2025-02-25 05:32 PM <DIR> storage 2026-10-04 01:53 PM 4,096 storage.sqlite 2025-02-26 04:09 PM 1 Telemetry.FailedProfileLocks.txt 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 50 times.json 2026-09-29 11:39 AM 66,278 training.dat 2026-09-29 11:39 AM 8 traits.dat 2026-10-04 01:22 PM 10 virtualFolders.dat 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 98,304 webappsstore.sqlite 2025-02-26 12:53 PM 32,768 webappsstore.sqlite-shm 2025-02-25 05:32 PM 0 webappsstore.sqlite-wal 2026-10-04 01:54 PM 2,057 xulstore.json

             66 File(s)     21,951,360 bytes
             14 Dir(s)  412,028,952,576 bytes free