Why do you feel the need to make 'threats' that you won't use thunderbird again? Do you think we're on commission? That your extensive financial contributions will cease and Mozilla will go bankrupt? You could just focus on the fact that you are asking peer volunteers for assistance in a setup that may reflect mistakes done by you. Transferring thunderbird to another computer is rather painless when done properly. Maybe, if you respond with details on how you installed thunderbird, and whether you transferred the profile, and in what steps did you take to do that, someone here may be able to assist.

Apologies David. My comment was directed at Mozilla, not you or the volunteers that help with solving problems. I've had plenty of frustration with Thunderbird. I went to the Mozilla Thunderbird website, clicked on the download button and installed the program, version 138.0.1, on my Windows computer. I did nothing else. As I said before, the program recognized me (my email address) and at first it looked like everything was ok. However, it turned out that none of my folders & sub-folders were visible except for the Trash folder. I rebooted the program but that didn't change anything. Patrick

Hi Patrick. You did nothing other than install Thunderbird? You did not copy your profile? Set up your account? Then what do you mean that the program recognized you? How do you know? Based on what?

Is your account IMAP or POP?

Are those folders and sub-folders on the server or only local or a combination?

If you did not copy your profile or set up your account, then Thunderbird is acting normally. It knows nothing about your account, so it cannot ask you for the password to it or show you messages from it.

Thanks for the reply. I had set up Thunderbird on the first computer and used it for 3 months. I used TB to retrieve my emails and used it's calendar. When I installed TB on the second computer, I saw my email account was there but it had no populated folders except for the Trash folder. So I how do I copy my profile? Thanks.

Sorry, forgot to mention my account is IMAP. Guess I assumed that Thunderbird would be similar to gmail in the sense that you can log into it from any computer once the program is loaded onto the second computer. Patrick

Apologies David. My comment was directed at Mozilla, not you or the volunteers that help with solving problems. I've had plenty of frustration with Thunderbird. I went to the Mozilla Thunderbird website, clicked on the download button and installed the program, version 138.0.1, on my Windows computer. I did nothing else. As I said before, the program recognized me (my email address) and at first it looked like everything was ok. However, it turned out that none of my folders & sub-folders were visible except for the Trash folder. I rebooted the program but that didn't change anything. Patrick

It sounds like your install of 138 did not go to the same program directory. When that happens it will cause Thunderbird to want you to create a new profile directory for your data.

Start Thunderbird from command line

 thunderbird.exe -P

to open the profile manager, and look for a profile name that contains "default-release" (not "default").

Please post your results.

Guess I assumed that Thunderbird would be similar to gmail in the sense that you can log into it from any computer once the program is loaded onto the second computer.

Patrick, yes, of course, that is how Thunderbird and all e-mail clients work. But if you only install Thunderbird, then it knows nothing about your account(s). I would still like to know why you think that Thunderbird recognized you and your e-mail address. How exactly did you install Thunderbird?

If you really did nothing but install Thunderbird, e.g., download the app from Mozilla and install it, then there is one solution. If you did more than that, as Wayne suspects and as Thunderbird on your second computer apparently knowing about your account suggests, then there is a different solution.

It would still also be hepful to know if your mail folders and sub-folders are on the server (IMAP folders) or only in the local account or a combination of the two.

I installed Thunderbird by going to their website (https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/features/#secureprotect) and clicked on the Download button. A window pops up asking if I wanted to save the file which of course I did. It saves the file "Thunderbird Setup 138.0.1.exe" in my downloads folder. I clicked on the file and it installs the program. Once it's installed it opens the main page which I would take a screenshot of but it has my email address on the top so I don't want to post that on this forum. My email address appears in top left corner and in the account settings along with my name. In the account settings it shows the Server Type as IMAP. Therefore I believe my folders are all on IMAP servers which is the way my Outlook was set up. The Port number is 999 (I did not put in that number).

I tried to start Thunderbird from the command line by typing in thunderbird.exe but it produced an error saying "thunderbird.exe is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file". So that tells me there's a fault in the installation. Have I answered all your questions?

Wayne knows more about any installation issues, so I will defer to him. One thing that might be helpful in the meantime is to check profiles from within Thunderbird on your second computer.

"Help" menu - "Troubleshooting information" - "about:profiles". Would you please post a screenshot of what you see next?

Is it possible that you had already installed Thunderbird on this second computer before? That is the only reason I can think of why it would have information about your e-mail account when first launched.

In any case, I think that you have two options (in addition to whatever Wayne is thinking):

1. Check the incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) server settings on the first computer, and enter the same settings for your acocunt on the second computer. (Port 999 is probably wrong. 993 may be correct.) Incoming (IMAP) settings are in account settings - server settings. Outgoing (SMTP) settings are in account settings - click on the account name - "Edit SMTP server..."
2. Export your profile from the first computer and import it into Thunderbird on your second computer. Use the "Tools" - "Export..." and "Tools" - "Import..." menu options. You will have to copy the exported profile from the first computer to the second one before you can import it there.

The first option is easier. The second option is better if you have many customized settings, filters, lay-out options, et cet. and you would rather copy them than re-create them.

Who is your e-mail service provider? Some have special requirements. e.g, creating a security key or app-specific password.

Here is the screenshot you requested. By the way, beside the Port number was a line that said Default 993. However this process might turn out to be fruitless as my first computer is at my winter home so I don't have access to it right now. I mistakenly thought the concept of using TB would be similar to gmail but it looks like that is not the case, ie you have to copy profiles from one computer to another. However, I'm anxious to see what Wayne might have to say as well. Scooter, your guess is correct. A few years ago I installed Thunderbird on this computer but didn't go forward with using it so I removed it. Thanks for your help.

As I said, in this regard, every e-mail client works the same. You do not have to copy files. I gave you two options. If you cannot access the settings on your first computer, you can get them from your e-mail service provider.

Even better: create a new account and let Thunderbird find the settings for you.

“Create a new account” = delete your account in Thunderbird and set it up again in Thunderbird.

Agreed. Sounds like a good solution. Thanks.

You are correct that Thunderbird doesn't operate like gmail. gmail has a web interface that can be used from anywhere with no installation, Thunderbird is not that.

Thank you for providing so much detail. Rather than try to decode what you did (in part because I still don't quite understand, which is not your fault because we can't actually see what you are seeing), let me describe the possible situations and process.

Thunderbird on your computer has a program directory and a separate data directory called a profile.

The normal Thunderbird process is:

1. Download
2. Install
3. Start
   • If Thunderbird has never been started for this computer user, it will create a new profile and prompt you to create a new account (the representation of your mail address in your PC), and you must provide the details of your mail address(s). Thunderbird will attempt to automatically recreate the local account from the information you provided.
   • If Thunderbird has been started previously on this computer for "'this user, and you installed Thunderbird in the EXACT same program directory (three conditions), then it will attempt to use the same profile that had been previously used. You will not need to supply additional information unless an error is detected.
   • If Thunderbird has been started for this computer user previously, and you did not install Thunderbird in the EXACT same program directory, then it will create a new profile (which is empty), and you must provide the details of your mail address(s). Thunderbird will attempt to automatically recreate the local account from the information you provided.

Hello Wayne. Thank you for that information. Referencing the second bullet under Start above, it is a virtual certainty that the install performed 2 days ago is in the exact same directory that it was installed a few years ago. Question is, will TB attempt to use the same profile even if that "old TB program" was removed a few years ago? I'm asking more out of curiosity as I think that I will start over from scratch, ie delete the account and then re-install as a new user. That said, I'm not exactly sure how to delete the account but I did see a red delete button under Account Settings. However, I wonder if anything will happen because the program doesn't seem like it's functional. We'll I guess.

Hello Wayne. Thank you for that information. Referencing the second bullet under Start above, 1) it is a virtual certainty that the install performed 2 days ago is in the exact same directory that it was installed a few years ago. 2) Question is, will TB attempt to use the same profile even if that "old TB program" was removed a few years ago? I'm asking more out of curiosity as I think that I will start over from scratch, ie delete the account and then re-install as a new user. 3) That said, I'm not exactly sure how to delete the account but I did see a red delete button under Account Settings. However, I wonder if anything will happen because the program doesn't seem like it's functional. We'll I guess.

1) you can check whether that is true by the program location identified in Help > Troubleshooting. The default location for the windows installer has been "Mozilla Thunderbird" for many, many years

2) if the profile was created by Thunderbird 68 or newer running from that program directory

3) the red delete button is the place to delete an account

Thanks Wayne for that information. Before I delete the Thunderbird account I wanted to make there no possible way to log into that account which I created on the first computer which I don't have access to right now (I mean access it from the second computer that I'm using right now). Thanks.