1. copy the desired content from old profile with windows file explorer
2. start thunderbird
3. click help>troubleshootinginformation
4. scroll down to 'profile folder' and click 'open folder'
5. exit thunderbird
6. click the Mail folder and then the Local Folders folder
7. past your content here
8. restart thunderbird

Hi David, I tried that but it did not work. I might have done it incorrectly.

But I saw an article last night and tried doing this: No, you cannot simply copy and paste the sbd folder into Thunderbird's Local Folders. To transfer your Local Folders from one computer to another, you must copy the entire Thunderbird profile folder (which contains the sbd files) and place it in the corresponding location on the new computer, then either replace the new profile with the old or use the profile manager to point to the new location.

Steps to Transfer Local Folders: 1. Find the Profile Folder on the Old Computer: Open Thunderbird and go to Help > More Troubleshooting Information. Find your Profile Folder and click Open Folder. Go up the directory tree three levels to find the main Thunderbird folder. 2. Copy the Profile Folder: Copy the entire Thunderbird folder (which contains your profile folder and the profiles.ini file) and paste it to an external drive or a network location. 3. Prepare the New Computer: Install Thunderbird on the new computer. Close Thunderbird completely. 4. Transfer the Profile Folder to the New Computer: Locate the new Thunderbird profile folder on the new computer (it will be in AppData\\Roaming\\Thunderbird\\Profiles\\ on Windows). You can then either: Option A (Replace New Profile): Delete the contents of the newly created profile folder and paste the contents of your old profile folder into this new, empty folder. Option B (Use Profile Manager): Create a new profile on the new computer and set it to use the location where you placed the copied profile folder. 5. Open Thunderbird: Open Thunderbird on the new computer. If you were prompted to enter passwords, enter them to access your accounts and data. Your Local Folders, and all other data, should now be available.

The name of the profile I copied onto my external hard drive is: izpoojy7.default It has a ton of folders and files inside it including folders Mail, IMAPmail

I tried pasting this entire folder izpoojy7.default in AppData>Roaming>Thunderbird>Profiles>izpoojy7.default

But now when I try launching Thundebird, it says, "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."

What should I try to do now? Thank you for your help David!

Uninstalling Thunderbird and will reinstall it next. Then try your suggestion again. I keep getting that same error message when I try to open the newly installed Thunderbird: "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."

I think I fixed it :) I Googled that line: To resolve the "Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded" error, you must find and run the Profile Manager by pressing Win + R, typing thunderbird.exe -p, and clicking OK. From there, you can try restoring your profile from a backup, creating a new profile and linking it to your old profile's folder, or creating a new profile entirely.

I somehow got to the default and default release and deleted each. When I tried restarting I got that same error message.

Tried again, and found the profile name and selected that. Not exactly sure how I did this since it happened so fast and really did not think it was going to work! But then I cliked on Start Thunderbird and instead of immediately getting that error, it opened!!!

And all of my Thunderbird messages from my old HP Envy which I use daily are now there!!!!

Steps to fix the issue Open the Profile Manager: Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Run the command: Type thunderbird.exe -p and press Enter. Choose a solution: Restore from backup: If you have a backup of your profile folder, you can create a new profile in the Profile Manager and then use the Choose Folder button to point to your backed-up profile folder. Link to the profile folder: If you know where your profile folder was moved or renamed, you can select the existing profile in the Profile Manager and then use the Choose Folder button to locate the correct folder. Create a new profile: If you don't have a backup or cannot find your old profile, create a new profile. This will be a fresh start for Thunderbird, but your old emails and settings will not be transferred unless you manually import them from a previous backup. Why this happens Moved or renamed folder: . The most common cause is that the profile folder was accidentally moved or renamed. Corrupted folder: . The profile folder itself might have become corrupted due to an abrupt shutdown or other issues. Missing profiles.ini file: . Thunderbird relies on the profiles.ini file to find your profiles, and if this file is missing or corrupted, you will receive this error.