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Reading Thunderbird archive files

Thunderbird Altele
david răspuns
stathatos1
stathatos1

So I have set up Thunderbird to include a Local Folder on my hard drive on which I copy email folders I want to archive safely. I can of course find and read any archived email by opening the Local Folder from within Thunderbird. But is there any way of retrieving and reading archived emails without doing so through Thunderbird? For instance, I want to copy the entire email archive onto a removable hard disk, so as to be able to consult it from other computers.

I can find Local Folders on my hard disk, and within that a folder called "Archive.sbd". That in turn gives access to documents called, for instance, "emails.2021" and "emails.2021.msf". The problem is that opening document "emails.2021" leads to an unusable mass of binary code. So my question is, can the archived emails only be read from within Thunderbird?

So I have set up Thunderbird to include a Local Folder on my hard drive on which I copy email folders I want to archive safely. I can of course find and read any archived email by opening the Local Folder from within Thunderbird. But is there any way of retrieving and reading archived emails without doing so through Thunderbird? For instance, I want to copy the entire email archive onto a removable hard disk, so as to be able to consult it from other computers. I can find Local Folders on my hard disk, and within that a folder called "Archive.sbd". That in turn gives access to documents called, for instance, "emails.2021" and "emails.2021.msf". The problem is that opening document "emails.2021" leads to an unusable mass of binary code. So my question is, can the archived emails only be read from within Thunderbird?
david
david
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Soluție aleasă

Here is a URL that may help,. It documents free methods and also a third-party tool that runs on MAC. https://www.systoolsgroup.com/updates/convert-thunderbird-to-eml-files-save-emails-with-free-steps/

Toate răspunsurile (7)

david
david
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If you wish to leave the msf files intact, you need software to read it, such as the freeware at https://www.dotstella.com/free-file-viewer/msf.html or you could export to eml

stathatos1
stathatos1 Deținătorul întrebării

Thank you, David. I should of course have specified that I use an iMac running OS High Sierra, and Dotstella appears to be a Windows-only application. Is there a Mac equivalent? If not, could you briefly elaborate on exporting to EML? Is this a process of converting the sbd files after the backup?

david
david
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Try the importexport addon. That has an export option for a folder to eml.

stathatos1
stathatos1 Deținătorul întrebării

OK, I have tried the importexport option. Unfortunately after reaching 35%, it crashes. Is there a third-part application that can read these files?

david
david
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Soluție aleasă

Here is a URL that may help,. It documents free methods and also a third-party tool that runs on MAC. https://www.systoolsgroup.com/updates/convert-thunderbird-to-eml-files-save-emails-with-free-steps/

stathatos1
stathatos1 Deținătorul întrebării

David, thank you for your help!

david
david
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You're very welcome,