use on windows7 desktop. will be traveling with laptop. How do I move my current emails and profile from desktop to laptop?
I have thunderbird on the laptop but don't use alot. Because I will be using it primarily for the next few months, I want to move some of the existing messages and archived files on the desktop thunderbird to take with me on the laptop. Do I need to move profile as well as files? I tried to drag and drop to put on a flash drive but that wouldn't go. Any help is appreciated.
Chosen solution
I should have shown you these…
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles
So long as the various users of a computer each have their own User Account at the operating system level, then what one user does within his own profile can't affect the others. If you're sharing a User Account login (or worse, not using a login at all!), then it gets a lot messier.
If you can, I'd suggest you overwrite your TB profile on the laptop with the version on your flash stick copied from the "main" computer.
If there's already too much stuff there that you can't afford to overwrite, or you are sharing a profile with other users, then you may wish to copy the material on the flash stick to a new profile and use TB's profile manager to select which profile to use. The main snag with this is that you need to remember to select the appropriate profile when starting TB, and when using a given profile, it's not easy to access material stored in another profile. It is possible to run multiple instances of TB, each with a different profile, but to do this you'll probably need to create batch files or links to launch TB appropriately. The second of my two links above should help with this.
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Copying the profile is certainly the most sure-fire way of making one installation of Thunderbird identical to another, though it can be problematic if your various versions of Thunderbird are not all the same version, or if you use different operating systems. Some add-ons are OS-specific and would need to be replaced by the correct build for a particular platform. Similarly, if you don't use the same version of Thunderbird everywhere, you may have to seek appropriate versions of add-ons.
Copying individual mail stores is possible, but less straightforward than a wholesale profile copy. It generally requires a good understanding of the structure and organization of Thunderbird's profile. I'd suggest ImportExportTools to import individual mailboxes.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/
Do none of your email providers offer IMAP? IMAP makes this kind of synchronization (of email, at least) automatic and trivial.
Address Books and Calendars are another matter, but again, synchronization via a web-based solution such as Google Contacts or Google Calendar offer a useful compromise. Your ISP or email provider may offer their own alternatives.
For temporary usage, you can always fall back to webmail via your laptop's browser. It comes down to whether the pain of using webmail outweighs the pain of synchronizing Thunderbird installations. ;-)
I gather the best way is to copy the profile. I checked both Thunderbird and they were updated to be the same. I was able to copy and paste a backup copy of the profile to a flash drive. Now when I go to the laptop I am faced with the question about getting it loaded and where to put it. Also I should note that the laptop has 2 users myself and my wife. If I get this on the laptop will that stay on my user or will it wipe out my wife's email? Much to learn!!
Chosen Solution
I should have shown you these…
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles
So long as the various users of a computer each have their own User Account at the operating system level, then what one user does within his own profile can't affect the others. If you're sharing a User Account login (or worse, not using a login at all!), then it gets a lot messier.
If you can, I'd suggest you overwrite your TB profile on the laptop with the version on your flash stick copied from the "main" computer.
If there's already too much stuff there that you can't afford to overwrite, or you are sharing a profile with other users, then you may wish to copy the material on the flash stick to a new profile and use TB's profile manager to select which profile to use. The main snag with this is that you need to remember to select the appropriate profile when starting TB, and when using a given profile, it's not easy to access material stored in another profile. It is possible to run multiple instances of TB, each with a different profile, but to do this you'll probably need to create batch files or links to launch TB appropriately. The second of my two links above should help with this.
Mission accomplished, Thank you !