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How do I swap emails between profiles?

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  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

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I have an old backup of my Thunderbird profile. Is it possible to display both the backup and the current profile at the same time and swap emails between them?

I have an old backup of my Thunderbird profile. Is it possible to display both the backup and the current profile at the same time and swap emails between them?

Chosen solution

With thunderbird closed - not running. Manually: You can copy and paste mbox (no extension) files containing emails from the old profile into the current profile name/Mail/'Local Folders' folder and then start Thunderbird. see image below as an example of moving files. Images shows drag and drop, but you may prefer to Copy and Paste.


OR with addon tool Download an addon called 'ImportExportTools NG'. Right click on 'Local folders' mail account and select 'ImportExportTools' > Import mbox file' See addon :

How to add addon extension:


Those folders would appear in 'Local Folders' mail account. You can then choose to leave as is or copy and paste emails into to the mail account folders.

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Chosen Solution

With thunderbird closed - not running. Manually: You can copy and paste mbox (no extension) files containing emails from the old profile into the current profile name/Mail/'Local Folders' folder and then start Thunderbird. see image below as an example of moving files. Images shows drag and drop, but you may prefer to Copy and Paste.


OR with addon tool Download an addon called 'ImportExportTools NG'. Right click on 'Local folders' mail account and select 'ImportExportTools' > Import mbox file' See addon :

How to add addon extension:


Those folders would appear in 'Local Folders' mail account. You can then choose to leave as is or copy and paste emails into to the mail account folders.