When TB starts with the setup wizard, click the HOME tab in upper left. Then right-click near the top where a panel opens to activate menu bar. Now, click help>more troubleshooting information. Next, click 'create new profile' and then browse to/select your profile. Give it a name in profile manager and continue to TB.

Hi David. Thanks I had tried that. I created a new profile and copied all the files in my existing profile into it. I've made sure that is the default profile but no luck on the starting TB. Still as if I had no profile. One question. Does what is in the cache matter? I am only looking at the main profile.

Please do not copy files. Keep the entire profile intact. By 'create new profile', the intent is only to create a new pointer to the correct profile. TB creates a new one when it initiates setup wizard, but the old one is still there. Cache is not a concern.

So I have been trying to fix this over a couple of days. I have renamed the original profile to try and match with a new one created by TB. So that is the original profile but with a new name. I did try to point to the old original name before hand but with no luck. I am also confused by the default and the default-release in the profiles.ini file.

I think the names are causing the confusion. So is the location of the profile. TB tries to 'know' the right one, but can get confused. My suggestion is to copy the correct profile folder to a separate location. It can be anywhere, since the profile manager just needs to know where you put it. For example, in Windows, I put mine on the root of the C drive (c:\\myprofile). Once you know exactly where your desired profile is, repeat the above procedure and at 'create new profile', all you're needing to do is click browse and locate that profile and define it within profile manager with a name. Then continue to TB. Do let me know how it goes. (And copying to new location isn't necessary; I just offer as a suggestion to separate it from the existing ones that are causing confusion.)

Hi David. No luck I'm afraid. I have put the profile in a new folder and set this up in the profiles as you can see in the screenshot attached. This has the following folders/files in it as shown in the second screenshot. When I open TB I just get the wizard as if there was no existing profile and as if the profile was empty. Is there a specific file in the profile folder that may have got corrupted and so is not allowing TB to recognise there is an existing profile there?

The profile should include a folder named Mail and possibly one named ImapMail. It appears you're pointing to the one TB created in setup wizard. The proper profile is also bigger than the one you're viewing. Are there other folders in home/simon/profiles? If so, the other one is likely the one you want. Keep me posted.

Hi David. Many thanks for persevering on this - much appreciated. I attach another screenshot which shows the folder containing my mail (pop3 accounts) and ImapMail (Gmail). It seems that most of this is only in the cache and then in a profile with default-release as the suffix (not default). But as I said earlier this is a point I don't understand. Does that help you diagnose?

The cache doesn't help. The profile folder will look something like the attached screenshot. And if you click on the imapmail or mail folder, you should folders such as another screenshot. Keep me posted.

CORRECTION. That cache looks like it. i've never seen it there before. Try setting that folder as the profile. I think that may be it. Not the cache itself, but the folder name from /home through to release. However, I would feel safer if the profile was moved to a stable place. The word 'cache' causes me to wonder if your OS may clear it. I would move it to elsewhere.

HI David, so the only files anywhere with my Mail was in the cache folder. I have copied these into the main profile I am using and now TB opens as I would expect (with my full profile) including all the emails I had filed into my local folder - phew! Some issues still in that my passwords are missing so I'm now seeing what other files are in the cache folder that are not in the main profile folder. But it seems now 90% fixed. Just wanted to update you and while I just finish off I will not yet mark as "Solved the Problem" but hopefully my next post will be to close this down. I guess my only question then would be how do I stop this happening again? Or maybe it was just bad luck?

I'm glad things are looking better. My strategy is to frequently back up the entire roaming/thunderbird folder. Unless profile is moved elsewhere, that ensures that the profiles.in and the profiles folder are always in sync. I use one of those free (up to 5 gig) websites that offer free daily backups and, since I use IMAP, my folder is always less. Then, if a future problem erupts, I just copy back to where TB looks for it and never lose a minute. All the best to you.

I'm glad it worked out okay. For protection, I recommend backing up the entire roaming folder for thunderbird.

To clarify, having both the profile.ini and the profiles folder backed up together ensures a simpler restore in case of future problems. The TB setup wizard gets invoked whenever the profile.ini is recreated and avoiding that is always positive.

Hi David, Many thanks for your further inputs. Apologies for the radio silence - I had to go out. I think I will have resolved all by tomorrow, just a few bits to tidy up. Your support and advice much appreciated.