Moving Thunderbird from Mac to Windows
Hello Could someone please advise/reassure me on moving my Thunderbird 68.2.1 installation from Mac 10.11 to Windows 10? I have watched this video https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer and identified my profile folder on the Mac, which is at username > Library > Thunderbird > Profiles > xxxxxxx.default - I assume that's the one. Firstly the video, which is more about moving between PCs, talks about cloud storage and external drives, but presumably I can just copy the 35 gig folder across my network to somewhere a new installation of Thunderbird will find and use it? This would probably make more sense for me given its size and the two systems. The video suggests I would copy the profile folder within the "Roaming" folder on the PC which would presumably be created when I install TB, I think replacing a default installation Profile folder - is that all I need to do? Or have I misunderstood? I installed a couple of extensions on TB on the Mac - Enigmail and Send Later (although under Troubleshooting it lists various others I didn't know about like dictionaries etc); what happens about these? Thank you so much for any pointers!
Isisombululo esikhethiwe
Copy the Thunderbird folder to an external or flash drive, while TB is closed:
username > Library > Thunderbird
On the PC, delete the Thunderbird folder in this location if it exists (while TB is closed): C:\Users\<winusername>\AppData\Roaming
AppData is hidden by default; enable Hidden Items on the View tab of File Explorer.
Paste the Thunderbird folder in the Roaming folder. Open the profile folder:
...\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<8charstring>.default
and delete pkcs11.txt (to avoid failed logins). Start TB. If the TB version on the Mac was 60 or lower, and it's 68 on the PC, some of your add-ons, including dictionaries, may be flagged as incompatible, and others may need to update. Send Later and Enigmail both have 68-compatible versions.
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Isisombululo Esikhethiwe
Copy the Thunderbird folder to an external or flash drive, while TB is closed:
username > Library > Thunderbird
On the PC, delete the Thunderbird folder in this location if it exists (while TB is closed): C:\Users\<winusername>\AppData\Roaming
AppData is hidden by default; enable Hidden Items on the View tab of File Explorer.
Paste the Thunderbird folder in the Roaming folder. Open the profile folder:
...\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<8charstring>.default
and delete pkcs11.txt (to avoid failed logins). Start TB. If the TB version on the Mac was 60 or lower, and it's 68 on the PC, some of your add-ons, including dictionaries, may be flagged as incompatible, and others may need to update. Send Later and Enigmail both have 68-compatible versions.
Thanks. V useful. Is there any reason I need to copy it to an external or flash drive, rather than copying it across the network?
No, copying over a network should suffice.
Hello again
I believe I have done what you kindly suggested. However on the PC in user > AppData > Roaming > Thunderbird > Profiles I now have two profiles:
xxxxxxxx.default which should be the one I copied from the Mac, and:
xxxxxxxx.default-release which is presumably the default one that comes with the fresh TB install on the PC.
When I open TB it appears to be linked to the default one as (having initially dismissed the set up wizard) it opens a dialogue asking me to set up an existing email account, which I assume I shouldn't need to do.
Do I now have to now use the Profile Manager to switch profiles, eg https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles - which looks pretty involved to me - or is there a simpler way of telling TB to use the one I moved from the Mac? I tried switching profile from within "Troubleshooting" but there didn't seem to be a way, and also temporarily removing the default profile folder but then TB wouldn't then start up at all. Can I rename my old profile as the default perhaps, or will that mess up other stuff?
Thank you again for further pointers.
Okulungisiwe ngu xgipper
No matter - I appear to have now got it working by switching profiles using the Profile Manager. Thanks for your help.
Hi everyone,
I'm having the same issue, and have tried everything listed above, as well as a few other things. But when TB starts it is still not showing me all my old (migrated from mac) stuff. I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure it out as my wife works from home and needs access to her emails on the computer, where all her invoices etc are stored.
Please help before I get bumped off and buried under the patio...