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Use Thunderbird to view/edit/save messages in mbox files

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Genie_Bottle
Genie_Bottle

I want to use Thunderbird to read saved offline messages stored in mbox files, delete messages I no longer need, and then resave to mbox format. How do I do this? I just downloaded Thunderbird and am struggling to use the help articles and forums to find instructions.

I want to use Thunderbird to read saved offline messages stored in mbox files, delete messages I no longer need, and then resave to mbox format. How do I do this? I just downloaded Thunderbird and am struggling to use the help articles and forums to find instructions.

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sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 25 Contributor

Help/Troubleshooting Info, Profile Folder, Show in Finder, close TB, copy mbox files into the Mail/Local Folders location, renaming the mbox files if necessary. Restart TB and find folders under Local Folders in the Folder Pane named after the mbox files. If you delete messages, the underlying mbox will be modified.

There is an add-on, ImportExportTools NG, that performs this and more involved operations, but it isn't necessary for the simple steps above.

You might have to add at least one mail account before Local Folders is created.

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