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Thunderbird Profile migration

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 95 views
  • Last reply by ellietodd

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Hello,

 I'll try to be as clear as possible, but I apologize in advance as my brain has turned to mush after more than a week of trying to resolve various computer issues. 
 My Thunderbird issue: I backed up my Thunderbird profile before doing a fresh installation of Windows 10 to resolve a separate issue. However, I'm unable to import the profile into my newly re-installed Thunderbird in spite of following the instructions, so I'm clearly not understanding something.
 In my attempts to resolve this issue, I think I've made it worse because now when I try to open Thunderbird I receive the error message 'Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.' And yet I have pasted a copy of the profile into the Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles directory, as you can see in the attached image.
 Could you please give me some guidance on how to resolve the issue of the attached error message and why my pasted profile doesn't seem to be registering? (Perhaps I've pasted it in the wrong place?)
 Thank you in advance.

Best regards, Todd

Hello, I'll try to be as clear as possible, but I apologize in advance as my brain has turned to mush after more than a week of trying to resolve various computer issues. My Thunderbird issue: I backed up my Thunderbird profile before doing a fresh installation of Windows 10 to resolve a separate issue. However, I'm unable to import the profile into my newly re-installed Thunderbird in spite of following the instructions, so I'm clearly not understanding something. In my attempts to resolve this issue, I think I've made it worse because now when I try to open Thunderbird I receive the error message 'Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible.' And yet I have pasted a copy of the profile into the Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles directory, as you can see in the attached image. Could you please give me some guidance on how to resolve the issue of the attached error message and why my pasted profile doesn't seem to be registering? (Perhaps I've pasted it in the wrong place?) Thank you in advance. Best regards, Todd
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Click' Create Profile' and select the folder where you placed it and give it a name, such as 'newprofile' and then continue with Thunderbird.

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Right-click the icon on desktop for Thunderbird, select Properties. On that screen, under TARGET, it probably shows C:\Program Files\Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" Add -p to the right so it looks like this:

C:\Program Files\Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -p  

Now close the shortcut and start Thunderbird. You will be prompted to show where the profile is that you want to use. Specify that it will be the default and continue. Once Thunderbird is working with the profile, you can repeat the above steps to remove the -p. Otherwise, the prompt will appear each time.

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Hi David,

 Thank you for your prompt response.
 I added the -p (see 2nd photo) as suggested. When I start Thunderbird the pop-up (see 3rd photo) asks me to choose the user profile, as you said. I have two options: default, and default-release. 
 I've tried selecting both default and default-release, but in both cases when I re-launch Thunderbird I receive the same original error message of 'Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded, etc.' 
 I suspect it's something that I did earlier that I shouldn't have, but I'm not sure what. Do you have any other suggestions on what I might try?
 Thanks.
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Chosen Solution

Click' Create Profile' and select the folder where you placed it and give it a name, such as 'newprofile' and then continue with Thunderbird.

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It worked. Thank you so much! What a relief...

Best wishes, Todd