Thunderbird Community Forum

I bought a new PC and wanted to import messages from different backups I've made over the years. I always copied the whole Thunderbird profile folder.

No matter which profile backup I want to import, I get an error. I always choose to import just the messages.

The latest profile I wanted to use was just 2 weeks old.

I always get this message. What do I need to do to successfully import the messages?

So I just purchased a new computer to accommodate Windows 11. I reinstalled TB and wanted to retrieve all of my old local folders from my old account. I understand this can be done because TB stores these local folders. I keep these folders for account and billing information. I'm not sure how to go about restoring these folders and need help! The information is also stored....I believe on my external hard drive and my cloud storage. But I think the easiest way to get these folders back is through TB. Any help would be so greatly appreciated!

Michael....

I am new and need to set up new email accounts via Thunderbird but I get this error message and don't know how to move forward. I have Outlook on Windows 11 system. I have 4 email accounts I want to transfer to new Thunderbird emails. Please help me, I have some skills but not completely tech savvy.

I want to move my local folders from thunderbird laptop to android thunderbird Maybe if I could find the profile location for thunderbird android it might help, but where is it? The thunderbird android seems really lacking in access to configure it ... all over the search engine I find "how to import data and settings into android thunderbird" but every one of these references is actually just import settings, NO DATA IMPORT AVAILABLE that I can find.

Hej, jestem okropna z komputerami. Zmieniałam w pracy komputer i zalogowałam się na Thunderbird. Nie miałam tam maili - ponoć lokalny mail?

Poprosiłam informatyka o przerzucenie maili. Niestety większość albo wylądowała w koszu, albo ich nie mam (mam maile z 2021, a nie mam z 2024?).

Stare konto było 'usuniete' z poprzedniego komputera. Utraciłam tam wszystkie maile z posegregowanych folderów. Zostały tylko te w odebranych i wysłanych, nawet po ponownym logowaniu.

Nasz informatyk kazał zmienić w konfiguracji serwera, katalog docelowy. Co zrobiłam. Nadal ich nie ma, po odświeżeniu.

Może jestem głupia, ale proszę o pomoc. Co robię nie tak...? Sprawa trochę pilna - potrzebuję tych maili.

Dziękuję!

I have have had a Gmail address for a few years and have just created a new Gmail address, I am trying to copy about 20,000 emails from the original Gmail IMAP folders to local Thunderbird folders as a backup, and then copy them to the new Gmail address IMAP folders.

I have tried copying these in smaller amounts as suggested (between 200 and 500 at once) This seems to go well, however, when I have completed the task the original folder has a much higher amount of messages in it than the new one, so some messages are being lost along the way.

Is there a reliable method to do this, such as closing Thunderbird and then copying and pasting data held in the profile folder, or does it need to be done with Thunderbird running?

Many Thanks in advance

Hi, I'm trying to help a friend to transfer Thunderbird to a new PC. The old PC is running Windows 10 and I have updated the Thunderbird version prior to attempted transfer. The new PC is running Windows 11. I have followed all the online instructions regarding moving profiles from one PC to another. He has two email addresses in Thunderbird, one being gmail. He has also created a number of folders into which he has neatly saved incoming emails. Each time I copy the existing profile (over 10gb) and transfer this to the new PC as per instructions, there are missing folders which don't appear to have been transferred successfully. All his emails appear to be there as well as his address book but there are several missing folders containing important emails. His created folders are in alphabetical order but the only ones transferred successfully are the ones beginning A to C. All the rest of his folders D onwards have not appeared. I'm finding this very frustrating and would appreciate any help and support. I'm not too tech savvy but can usually overcome issues like this. Should I try the export/import route to transfer all his emails and folders to the new PC or is there something else "profile related" that I could try. Thankyou very much.

I handle 3 email addresses from Comcast.net with Windows live mail on a Windows 10 machine. I have many folders and thousands of emails saved. I would like to move to Thunderbird on Windows 11. Can I move my folders and messages so they set up in Thunderbird on Win 11 the way they are set up in Windows live mail in Win 10. How would I proceed?

Thanks.

To be clear, I seriously doubt the problems I am encountering are TB's fault! The problems may be my fault since I've grown older, I've tended (believed) using new versions of software present my mind a BIGGER challenge than using the older software/version I have been successfully using? I'm still using Version115.10.1

After our ISP chose to start using Zimbra Oct. 7, 2025 and their tech support could not assist me in getting TB working the had me remove POP3 settings for TB and change to IMAP with their software.

FINALLY someone helped me get TB working with IMAP. For 3 days grrr. Now the ISP says I need to use their web mail, Zimbra.

So might downloading the current TB version and somehow get the In box, all the folder contnets etc. over - into the new TB help?

I was going to backup everything tonight, now I have little to NO hope, without help!

THANKS & remain WELL plus be SAFE!

Robin

I have tried to set up an import from my gmail account to my thunderbird account but I always get an error message saying wrong configuration. How do I get this account set up? Buck

I use Windows 11, Thunderbird both current versions. I recently had a problem with my server at Spectrum in that I could not receive emails as a POP3 account. I backed up my profile and contacted Spectrim, knowing I would have to do some tweaking on the configuration because that’s what they ask you to do. After many calls and nearly 3 weeks, they decided that if I wanted email, I would have to switch to IMAP protocol even though I have used Thunderbird as a POP3 client for more than 5 years. After more requested configuration tweaks, I decided to uninstall the mangled version of Thunderbird, download the latest version, install it as an IMAP protocol client. It is now working as IMAP, but now I need to bring over my address book and messages from the POP profile, which I am now finding a bit awkward. I don’t want to do an import from the saved profile, as there are differences in configuration and I don’t want to just bring over everything, but really all I want is the address book and my messages. I have figured out the address book and done that, but I’m concerned about the messages. If I import from the saved (POP) profile, can I just import the appropriate folders from the MAIL file only ?

I wish to use Thunderbird email on my Android tablet and after installing the app on the android I followed the instructions on my desktop version. eg Settings, QR code etc and downloaded my accounts. However none of my Local or Storage folders came across? Is there other instructions I am missing or do I need to start from the beginning on the Android version of Thunderbird? any suggestions would be helpful. My intention is to do away with my out of date PC and use an upmarket Android tablet.

the new beta mozilla has not copied my folder inbox folders, all past emails are gone. I want to revert back to the old system but it wont allow, and I have tried to import the old folders but that has not worked, all it has done is create 2 more copies of local folders (twice). Please help as the old emails are important.