Merging different Local Folders backups into one single
I'm using Thunderbird 68.11.0 (64-bit) on Linux. Soon I'll migrate from the IMAP connected outlook.office365.com server to another private option, possibly gmail.
1) First I want to cleanup and my TB Local Folders. I have a handful of different Mail folders (profiles) as external backups, 5-19GB each, from different machines and with partly time overlaps.
Is it possible with some TB tool to merge (read) in those Mail backup folders into my current Local Folder, without getting duplicates and more of the same mails?
2) And second, is updating my Local Folders the path to use, before switching mail server?
Thanks, Terje
Chosen solution
1. Use the ImportExportTools NG add-on to import mbox files from your backups into the "Local Folders" directory. It will have you import each underneath a child folder so that there is no naming conflict. A mbox file is a text file containing all of the messages for a folder, named after the folder, but with no file extension.
"inbox." is a mbox file for the inbox folder (you want to select it), "inbox.msf" is a index file/cache of the folder listing (don't need it, a new version will be automatically created for you) and "inbox.sbd" a renamed directory used to help organize the files into a folder hierarchy.
The same naming convention is used for other folders.
Once you've imported the folders you can merge them as desired, and use an add-on such as Remove Duplicates to remove any duplicates.
2. There is no need to change the location of "Local Folders" when changing email providers.
The most common error when migrating from one email provider to another is getting rid of the old email provider too soon. Keep the old one for a couple of days after you migrate in case you made a mistake.
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No reply so far. I had a look at Unify your POP email accounts with a global inbox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/unify-your-pop-email-accounts-global-inbox
but could not see this is useable for different Local Folders. Any tip ?
Chosen Solution
1. Use the ImportExportTools NG add-on to import mbox files from your backups into the "Local Folders" directory. It will have you import each underneath a child folder so that there is no naming conflict. A mbox file is a text file containing all of the messages for a folder, named after the folder, but with no file extension.
"inbox." is a mbox file for the inbox folder (you want to select it), "inbox.msf" is a index file/cache of the folder listing (don't need it, a new version will be automatically created for you) and "inbox.sbd" a renamed directory used to help organize the files into a folder hierarchy.
The same naming convention is used for other folders.
Once you've imported the folders you can merge them as desired, and use an add-on such as Remove Duplicates to remove any duplicates.
2. There is no need to change the location of "Local Folders" when changing email providers.
The most common error when migrating from one email provider to another is getting rid of the old email provider too soon. Keep the old one for a couple of days after you migrate in case you made a mistake.
tanstaafl, Thank you for your reply, the ImportExportTools NG add-on and the Remove Duplicates add-on did the job. I noticed the ImportExportTools NG also had an option to Import all messages from a directory. Possibly this could have saved an intermediate step with the child folder (?), but I didn't try it.
Terje