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I wish to be asked for my password when I first open Thunderbird.

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  • 2 have this problem
  • 17 views
  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

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My hard drive had crashed and I lost my address book and archives etc. When I reinstalled Thunderbird on a new hard drive, I entered my password. Now when I open Thunderbird, it does not ask for my password like it did on my old hard drive. I simply wish to change the setting so I DO have to enter a password upon opening Thunderbird. How to do it is my question.

Second question- 2-3 months prior to the hard drive crash I had made a copy and paste backup of that hard drive. Can I used that to find my address book and lost archives?

Thank you.

Noah Klein

My hard drive had crashed and I lost my address book and archives etc. When I reinstalled Thunderbird on a new hard drive, I entered my password. Now when I open Thunderbird, it does not ask for my password like it did on my old hard drive. I simply wish to change the setting so I DO have to enter a password upon opening Thunderbird. How to do it is my question. Second question- 2-3 months prior to the hard drive crash I had made a copy and paste backup of that hard drive. Can I used that to find my address book and lost archives? Thank you. Noah Klein

Chosen solution

RE: Password you must have selected the option for Thunderbird to remember the passwords when creating the account.

You can remove the stored passwords: Tools > Options > Security > Passwords tab or Menu icon > Options > Options > Security > Passwords tab

  • Click on 'Saved Passwords'
  • Click on 'Show Passwords'[
  • Select both Mailbox and smtp passwords for the mail account.
  • click on 'REmove'
  • click on 'Close'
  • click on OK to save changes.
  • Close Thunderbird
  • Wait for background processes to complete
  • Restart Thunderbird.

It should prompt for password.

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moving to the Thunderbird queue

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All that appeared in the answer was "moving to the Thunderbird queue"

perhaps part of the message was lost

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All that appeared in the answer was "moving to the Thunderbird queue"

perhaps part of the message was lost

more options

Chosen Solution

RE: Password you must have selected the option for Thunderbird to remember the passwords when creating the account.

You can remove the stored passwords: Tools > Options > Security > Passwords tab or Menu icon > Options > Options > Security > Passwords tab

  • Click on 'Saved Passwords'
  • Click on 'Show Passwords'[
  • Select both Mailbox and smtp passwords for the mail account.
  • click on 'REmove'
  • click on 'Close'
  • click on OK to save changes.
  • Close Thunderbird
  • Wait for background processes to complete
  • Restart Thunderbird.

It should prompt for password.

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RE: Backup import messages

You can use this tool to import messages from backup:

How to install addon:

See image below as aid.


RE: Address Books

You can copy and paste the Personal Address Book and Collected Addresses directly into the Profile.

They are called 'abook.mab' and 'history.mab' respectively.

They are located here:

    C:\Users\Windows user name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\Profile name\ 

The AppData folder is folder is a hidden folder; to show hidden folders, open a Windows Explorer window and choose "Organize → Folder and Search Options → Folder Options → View (tab) → Show hidden files and folders".

see second image below.

However, they will over write the current .mab files of same name.

There is another method to import mab files using this addon:

Open Address Book Tools > MorefunctionsforAddressBooks > Actions for address books > Import addressbook from mab file