Did you delete your POP account in Thunderbird?

- install the importexporttools NG addon - highlight Local Folders - Rightclick and select importexport option to import mbox - navigate to old profile, select the Mail folder and then the POP account folder - select any file, such as Sent, Inbox, but ignore the msf entries - next, repeat the import process and select the Mail\Local Folders folder and select desired files, again ignoring msf entiries - finally, click tools>import>import from a file and follow menus to addressbook and to sqlite file option - select the abook.sqlite file from old profile - repeat the import process for history.sqlite file - if your old thunderbird was older than release 78, the above two steps may not have retrieved addresses. in that case, repeat the tools>import process but this time, click the Mork Structure instead of the Sqlite structure and select first the abook.mab file and repeat to select the history.mab

Rick - recall that I uninstalled Thunderbird and then reinstalled it. I assume I deleted my POP account when I set up IMAP.

David - sorry I am not as tech saavy as I probably need to be in this area but I did not follow you instructions at all. Sorry. Folks I thought there was an easier method.

This attachment is what it looks like as to what I saved on my external drive.

Recall that I said that the app and data are separate. :) One can delete the app without touching data. But you must have deleted your POP account. And it doesn’t matter as long as you have it in a back-up copy. That is what David is properly focusing on.

We can break down the steps for you more. I do not have time right now.

You could probably also return to using the profile with your POP account and saved messages, then re-create your IMAP account there. Probably fewer steps, especially if you have many folders of saved messages. Still a little technical.

Would you prefer that approach?

You would have to remember not to delete your POP account until the messages are stored where you want them.

You posted a list of profiles. Do you know which one has the data you want? You can look in each one. Each has a Mail directory which would list any POP accounts and their folders, e.g., inbox, sent Each would have a Mail\Local Directory folder that would have any non-account folders If you click through each, you will see which one has such folders and their last updated date With thunderbird not running, you can copy any desired file and paste into the active thunderbird folder. this is not a technically demanding as it may seem. My suggestion on the importexporttools addon was to remove the need to use windows file explorer, but they both do the same thing, copy a file from one folder to another.

OK - of my saved profile from my very old version of Thunderbird (POP server), only one of the 4 directory listings attached had an actual Mail folder and I see for example an Inbox with 41 GB of data. Are you saying I can copy and paste that into my current new IMAP Thunderbird inbox or perhaps drag it there (if possible)?

NO. What I said applies only to your POP or local folders content.

David, zbadger should copy both POP and local folders’ mbox files into local folders in the new profile, right?

So you are saying that I cannot copy my e-mails I saved from my prior version of Thunderbird to what I am currently using? Maybe I am misunderstanding what you wrote. But if that is accurate, (i) why then bother saving a profile as I was told to do and (ii) I would have never upgraded to the IMAP protocol. Better left all as is.

I really would like to recover my old e-mails and archived folders.

You can copy them. David will guide you. I do not want to interfere. I was just trying to cover a possible crack.

There was a way to switch to IMAP without this complication. But you can get your old messages into your current profile because you were smart and made a back-up.

Thanks Rick but again as a much older senior, I probably need step by step guidance other than the function of copying and pasting or dragging and dropping. So I will welcome specific help from whomever is willing to help.

Rick and I are trying to help, and the detail steps you need are exactly as you described - copying and pasting. You have files in an old profile and you want them in a new profile. You achieve that by copying from one to the other. This is a simple process. In a prior post of mine to you, I gave full detail steps, but I will repeat here to a degree.

First, to clarify where you are now. My understanding is that your account is now IMAP, but you want your prior messages that were in the POP account added to the IMAP account. Also, you want to save old local folder content in the new profile. Here are the steps in detail. Do them one at a time and it goes quickly.

1. be sure to exit thunderbird
2. locate the Mail\<POP account folder on old profile </li>
3. copy the inbox and sent folders to the Mail\Local Folders folder in NEW profile (do NOT copy the msf entries)
4. now, copy all content in Mail\Local Folders folder from OLD profile and place in Mail]Local Folders folder in NEW profile
5. now copy the abook.sqlite and abook.mab and history.sqlite and history.mab from OLD profile's root folder to root folder of NEW profile
6. restart thunderbird and verify that what you anticipated is there. You should see the folders in Local Folders and also your addressbook should have contents. Post back if not true and be specific.
7. now, to get your old POP messages to IMAP, you can highlight the Mail\Local Folders\Sent folder, rightclick and select COPY to the IMAP sent folder. Do NOT select MOVE. IMAP was not designed for high volume so check results after doing this. Repeat the process to COPY the Mail\Local Folders]Inbox folder to the IMAP inbox. Again, check results. If either of the copies fails, then create a manual filter to do the copy process.

Thank you David. I have gotten part of the way there with some difficulty. I think I have successfully done 1-4. I do not know where to find the items in number 5 a I do not know where the profiles root folder is.

The root folder is the one just left of the Mail Folder. That is, the Mail folder is within the root folder. When there, you will see the abook.sqlite file.

When I go to the new root folder and try to paste abook.sqlite and abook.mab and history.sqlite and history.mab from OLD profile's root folder to root folder of NEW profile, it asks me if I want to replace the 4 files that are already there. Is that what I want to do?

And David, assuming what I asked above is correct and my files are there as in Step 6, why is Step 7 necessary? Assuming I already successfully copied and pasted those files to the new profile in Steps 3 and 4, it seems I should already have those files - correct?

True, the message are on your PC and that is fine if you're okay with that. You would have all messages available on your PC. My inference is that you wanted them on the IMAP account, as that would let you access all messages from phone or web.

yes, because from your earlier post, those files do not contain your contacts. After the copy/replace, you should see all contacts in thunderbird.

David - I just checked and my contacts are back - hooray! Also, in Local Folder, my few archived folders are back and yes my sent messages are there.

But my older e-mails were not recovered.