What do you mean by 'Archives'? Are you saying you uninstalled Thunderbird and then got a new installation which is asking you to create a new mail account, but you expected it to locate the Profile you had been using previously? In which case you are really talking about how to locate and use original profile. If you have just installed Thunderbird for the first time, then you will need to create a mail account for an existing email address. If you created a new Pop mail account then some folders get auto created when you first use then eg: Archives, Sent, Drafts. If you created an Imap mail account then you should be able to Subscribe to see any folder on the server. Please tell us: What OS are you using? What version of Thunderbird are you using? Is this the first time you have used Thunderbird ? Have you used Thunderbird before, but uninstalled it, then got a fresh download but it's not finding your Profile, - it's created a new profile and is asking for new mail account? Please offer information so we can understand your situation.