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Archiving Thunderbird local folders to external Disk Drive

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  • Last reply by david
  • Archived

Anthony E. Alvarez
Anthony E. Alvarez

Hello from New York City!

What is the procedure to move Thunderbird local folders from a laptop to an external disk drive? The Windows 11 laptop has run out out of local disk space.

Have installed ImportExportTools NG plugin but do not understand the all the folder export type options. https://github.com/thunderbird/import-export-tools-ng

After moving Thunderbird local folders to an external disk drive, will it be searchable? Any clues appreciated.

From a Thunderbird 128.10.0esr (64-bit) user on Windows !!. Thank you.

Hello from New York City! What is the procedure to move Thunderbird local folders from a laptop to an external disk drive? The Windows 11 laptop has run out out of local disk space. Have installed ImportExportTools NG plugin but do not understand the all the folder export type options. https://github.com/thunderbird/import-export-tools-ng After moving Thunderbird local folders to an external disk drive, will it be searchable? Any clues appreciated. From a Thunderbird 128.10.0esr (64-bit) user on Windows !!. Thank you.

Modified by Anthony E. Alvarez

All Replies (1)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor

Here's a simple way, done with windows file explorer - click account settings - click to Local Folders pane - note the file location in the Local Directory line at bottom - exit thunderbird - IMPORTANT - in windows file explorer, copy (not move) that exact folder to the external drive - now, restart thunderbird - locate the local folders pane as before - click the local folders dropdown on bottom line and set to the new location. thunderbird will likely close and restart - check that all is well and that the Local Folders pane points as desired - you can now delete the Local Folders folder in the C drive.

REMEMBER: When you do backups or transfer to new PC,you need to stay aware that part of your account is not in the profile.