Hello there We have read the message We try to help

Removing the hdd is oke to do. We don t know exactly how that process has been going on ,but we have information to reinstall old data to a new account or pc.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer

Greetings Firefox volunteer

The important folder on old HDD backup is the ...appdata\roaming\thunderbird folder

1. ensure thunderbird is installed and NOT running
2. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
3. you should be in Appdata\roaming folder , copy&paste the exported Thunderbird folder there. This may prompt to overwrite an existing folder of same name. allow it
4. start thunderbird and all should be there

Thanks for that reply. In my case, I have extracted the old HDD from the old Win 10 computer. I can locate the Thunderbird folder, but, some time in the past I re-located the profile folder into a folder on my desktop. I can still access that folder, so not sure how that fits in with opening a new installation of Thunderbird on the new Win 11 computer. The instructions suggest copying the old Thunderbird folder into the same position on the new computer, but, my profile is not in that Thunderbird folder, as mentioned above.

Thanks for reading.

Having been provided no specifics, if the profile is stored in the same location on new PC, the above suggested thunderbird folder copy would cause thunderbird to access it, wherever it is. If the profile is now on the new PC, you can do one of two things: Option ONE: - exit thunderbird if running - edit the profiles.ini file at c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird to point to it. that is a simple text file. - restart thunderbird

Option TWO: - start thunderbird - click help>troubleshootinginformation - scroll down to 'profiles' and click 'about:profiles' - click 'create profile' - click next - enter shortcut name, e.g. MYPROFILE - click the 'choose' button and then locate and select your profile where you copied it - click finish and launch

Thanks david. I have chosen to go the first route you suggest. I have accessed profiles.ini and have the following:

[InstallD78BF5DD33499EC2] Default=Profiles/39hm9ypo.default-esr Locked=1

[Profile1] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/10b70ihj.default Default=1

[Profile0] Name=default-esr IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/39hm9ypo.default-esr

[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 Version=2

The profile in my desktop folder (the profile I want) is zvn4n9h5.default

Which of the above profiles do I edit?

Thanks again for all your assistance.

re : I re-located the profile folder into a folder on my desktop.

I would try putting the same info into the same locations on new W11 computer, start up Thunderbird and see if it picks everything up.

There is a big difference between the 'profile name' folder conting mail accounts etc and the 'Thunderbird' profile folder which contains a lot more than just the profile. So if you just put the 'profile name' folder in a folder on desktop - then you need everything.

Exit Thunderbird on W10 and also on W11 - it must not be running on either computer.

on W10 desktop - Get a copy of that folder on desktop which contains profile. Paste it in same location on W11 desktop, so it looks identical.

On W10 - get Copy of the 'Thunderbird' folder - appdata\roaming\thunderbird folder

On W11 - access User/Username/Appdata/Roaming folder delete Thunderbird' folder Then paste in the copied 'Thunderbird' folder.

That 'Thundebird' folder contains the 'profile.ini' file and that tells Thunderbird exactly where you have put the profile. So, if you have copied the folder that contains the profile and put exact same folder in same location on W11, then it should pick it up.

Start Thunderbird

Toad Hall - You are a star !!!

Worked a treat, opened Thunderbird and everything looks like it did before on the old win 10.

Thanks a bundle. My biggest issue was that I had quite a lot of old emails in Local Folders which I dreaded losing, holiday bookings, purchases etc.

Thanks again and thanks to all who have read and especially those that have contributed.

Regards

Steve

I'm having a similar issue as the OP, however the above solutions have not worked for me. I did a clean install WIN 11 upgrade from Win 10. Prior to the upgrade, I copied off the Thunderbird folder from both the Local and Roaming folders. Following the above solutions and above video link, after copying over the Thunderbird folders to the new locations, opening TB brings up the Set up Your Existing Email Address screen. I was running the latest version of TB prior to the upgrade. I have 2 email accounts on TB, not sure if that makes a difference or not.

The steps defined may not all seem important or necessarily in that sequence, but each step important and in that sequence. To summarize the steps:

1. ensure thunderbird is NOT running on old machine
2. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
3. this should open windows file explorer in Appdata\roaming folder
4. highlight the Thunderbird folder and copy to external media
5. ensure thunderbird is installed on second computer and NOT running
6. enter %appdata% in search window on task bar and press Enter key
7. you should be in Appdata\roaming folder , copy&paste the exported Thunderbird folder there. This may prompt to overwrite an existing folder of same name. allow it
8. start thunderbird and all should be there

In your situation, depending on the steps you took, the prompt for new email address could happen because either 1) thunderbird started with a new profile, or 2) thunderbird found your profile incomplete/corrupted (which can happen if the profile is copied while thunderbird is running).

I'm having a similar issue as the OP, however the above solutions have not worked for me. I did a clean install WIN 11 upgrade from Win 10. Prior to the upgrade, I copied off the Thunderbird folder from both the Local and Roaming folders. Following the above solutions and above video link, after copying over the Thunderbird folders to the new locations, opening TB brings up the Set up Your Existing Email Address screen. I was running the latest version of TB prior to the upgrade. I have 2 email accounts on TB, not sure if that makes a difference or not.

It might not be picking up the profile because either you have not installed in correct location OR because Windows is expecting it to be in a different location.

Where did you get the Thunderbird download ? If you installed Thunderbird from the official Thunderbird download webpage :

• https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/all/

then this will be the location of your Thunderbird profile folder:

• C://Users/username/Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird

If you installed via a 'Windows App Store' then it will be here:

• C:\\Users\username\AppData\Local\packages\MozillaThunderbird.MZLA_h5892qc0xkpca\LocalCache\Roaming\Thunderbird

Please check both locations and tell me what you discover. I often advise people to get download from the official website as it means the profile folder is much easier to locate and easier to backup etc.

Hi all, I realise that this has become an 'ongoing discussion', but, can I reinforce that Toad-Hall answered my query successfully. Regards S

David and Toad-Hall, thank you for your responses. I was able to solve the issue by changing the default profile to the backed up one, however I was not able to find this post to delete it before you all answered it.

steveibobs, sorry for hijacking your post, I thought I had a similar issue which I was able to finally figure out the solution for.