Thunderbird has completely disappeared from my laptop, how to restore it?
Having used Thunderbird quite normally this afternoon, I went away for just over 2 hours, and on my return the entire programme has disappeared from the bottom tool bar, from the desktop, and from the list of available Apps. I checked the crash report and it seems something happened around 14:01, but I've never had the entire thing disappear before.
If I reinstall the programme, will it re-link to my old folders (which are essential!), or install as a fresh app?? I have used it with Windows 10 for 18 months with no problem at all.
All Replies (2)
My first suspicion (and hope!) would be that your Thunderbird is still there, but it has been removed from all the menus.
Uninstalling a program (along with deleting all its menu entries) isn't (or shouldn't be) something that can be trivially initiated.
Use your Windows Explorer file manager to look under Program Files and Program Files (x86) for any mention of Thunderbird. I'd also look under Settings|Programs and Defaults to see if Windows thinks Thunderbird is still installed.
Actually, whether or not you find Thunderbird, the best repair is just to download and install it again. But knowing if it had been deleted or removed would be informative.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/all/
The Thunderbird program and its data are stored in separate places. Your settings and messages are stored in your profile and that is stored under
...\Users\<your login>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird
The folders and files that comprise your profile are hidden by default, so may not be visible in a casual search. You need to enable viewing of hidden files.
For peace of mind, I'd want to look at the profile too, to understand what might have happened.
Assuming that your profile is still there, if you get Thunderbird running (by either re-installing it, or by repairing the lost menu entries) it should indeed just pick up the old profile and continue as normal.
Thank you for taking the trouble to reply: the data was indeed there - I eventually found the folder on my D_drive under critical files/profile/, and by double-clicking on the application file it all started up again! no idea why the icon disappeared from the task bar or desktop, but i'm happy that it's all there.