Yonke imikhiqizo Community Forum

I have installed Thunderbird on a new computer and copied my profile from the old computer as per instructions on the Mozilla site. However on the install on the new computer the LOCAL FOLDERS, sub folders which I use as archive storage do not contain the messages as per the my old computer. The sub folders are named correctly.

I have attached photos of the sub folders from the old computer showing data in the sub folder and also the new computer showing no data.

Please advise how to retrieve the data for the new computer.

Hi,

I have transferred Thunderbird to a new computer. It opens fine, but it's looking for me to enter new info all over again.

So it looks like it is not finding the right info in the profile.ini file.

Please tell me how to fix this, and let me know in which folders the email information is stored, in case I need to back up all my emails.

In my Thunderbird email client I have 4 email addresses.

The program is in: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe

The Profile Folder in Thunderbird itself lists: zvhtqvg2.default-release-1

But in AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profis lists 2 files: 0jyd0ev.default-release zvhtqvg2.default-release-1

In Windows(C)\Users\ted\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird the profiles.ini file list the following:

[Install746F856C10C5FA7C] Default=Profiles/0jyd0ev.default-release Locked=1

[InstallD78BF5DD33499EC2] Default=Profiles/zvhtqvg2.default-release-1 Locked=1

[Profile1] Name=default IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/0jyd0ev.default-release Default=1

[Profile0] Name=default-release IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/0jyd0ev.default-release

[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 Version=2

[Profile2] Name=default-release-1 IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/zvhtqvg2.default-release-1

Thank you, Ted

When i open firefox, i can choose what profile to open. I have two screens, so i was wondering if it was possible to be able to open both profiles i use, and have one on each screen. If not possible, would it be considered for an update in the future? It would make it easier, so i can have my personal profile on one screen, and my work profile on the other.

I've read the articles on moving Thunderbird to a new computer. My old computer died but I have a full backup and have replaced the Thunderbird directory a number of times according to the instructions to move TB to a new computer. I have even uninstalled and reinstalled TB to match the version on the old computer (140.4.0.0). It comes up and shows over 8,000 emails, but ALL are in the inbox and none of the probably hundreds of folders and sub-folders show up. I have found some of the names in the Profiles directory but they don't appear in the TB window.

i previously set up profiles using about:profiles, but with the new profiles feature i don't see any of them showing up. i haven't found any articles that allow me to convert the files from about:profiles to use the new one.

i am not logged in to firefox on the others either.

is there a way to link the profile files on my computer to save my bookmarks and history? i don't know if there will be continued support for these files and want to make sure my bookmarks are saved for all of them. i would prefer to stay logged out of the other profiles.

Attached images include screenshots of the empty profiles (one from clicking the profiles from dropdown, one from clicking "manage profiles", and one with blacked out personal data from going to about:profiles).

I have previously made additional profiles on 'about:profiles', now Firefox has added an integrated profile manager accessible by clicking my profile on the top right. My old profiles are not available on this profile manager, but they are still available on 'about:profiles', so how can I transfer them without having to remake new ones?

We are currently rolling out a profile management solution based on Ivanti User Environment Manager. In order to configure file includes and excludes in the profile management tool, we have to “standardize” the Firefox profile path in the filesystem. We have implemented a PowerShell script, which reads the currently used profile from %appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\install.ini, renames the appropriate profile subfolder to “firefox.default-esr” and replaces the entries in installs.ini and profiles.ini.

The script seems to be reliable. However, for around 10% of the users, we are seeing issues when the user launches Firefox after the “firefox profile migration” happened. Firefox opens but none of the GUI controls is accessible. Firefox is completely unusable. See screenshot attached.

We do have workarounds to resolve this issue, such as completely wiping the %appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox folder and let Firefox re-build everything from scratch. But we are still trying to find the root cause the issue, because our customers have more than 100k clients, what will be a big impact and hard to handle for the helpdesk.

We are currently unable to reproduce the issue on test clients. Even copied Firefox profile folders form affected clients don’t show the issue on other clients.

Therefore we want to find out and ask for your help:

- Is there a supported way to “standardize” the filesystem folder name of the Mozilla Firefox (ESR) profile of a user? - What are the files within a Firefox profile that are required for the profile and the application itself to properly start? - Do you have any idea which files in a Firefox profile (in a corrupted state) could cause our issue?

Hi folks -

I've just seen the update that firefox now allows "profiles" for different purposes (e.g. work, fun, etc.) which seems really handy. But I'm trying to wrap my head around how to approach restructuring my current setup. In particular, do these profiles *all* sync with my mozilla account? Or do I need a separate mozilla account for each profile? (if so, that sort of defeats some of the utlity here unless you're sharing the PC).

I can't tell from the support article, doesn't seem to address this, but you do need to login again if you set up a new profile.

Thanks, Patrick

I switched to Firefox a few months ago and I've been using the "about:profiles" page to mimic chrome's profile feature. I have 3 profiles, each with their own Mozilla account. How can I migrate these to the new profiles system?

Hi, I do not understand the new profile management feature of Firefox and how it relates to sync. I am logged into my Mozilla account that syncs bookmarks, and I use the default profile that I renamed to "personal". When I switch to a newly created "work" profile, I am no longer signed in.

Will the new profiles "personal" and "work" be synced to my account once I log on to both? I am using Firefox on several PCs and I don't want to recreate profiles such as "personal" and "work" on all the PCs manually?

Thanks for a reply.

Oct 23, 2025, 19:35 CST

I FINALLY was able to find the original profile, all messages in the In Box, plus all folders with their contents. 'Lost' when our ISP's ' tech support person ' had me close/remove the TB POP3 account and create an IMAP account).

I need to merge the new small profile (In Box & with basic folders) into - onto the BIG, original, profile. So each time I get/check mail everything goes to, ends up in, the Thunderbird account containing all the OLD data and new working account.

Please remember I am barely TB literate, so start at 1 (A), not 27 (Z)& no tech words. Nor acronyms please.

Thanks! Remain in GOOD health, be WELL, 'n be

• • SAFE!**

Robin

Got up this morning and stared up Thunderbird as I always do but got a 'new account dialog'. All of my emails, folders, settings, etc. are gone. Went through the Help - Trouble shooting process to find the old profile. There are three profiles listed in 'About Profiles' and if I launch with any of them, all I get is a new setup. Freaking out here as I have 10 of thousands of emails, in multiple email accounts, in a relatively complex folder structure which includes online and local folder storage. I have a feeling that Thunderbird updated last night and is the cause of this problem.

Running Windows 10 Pro v 22H2, build 19045.6332 . Thunderbird 140.3.1esr (64-bit)

new firefox update today plus windows update - get message "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional because one of Firefox's files is in use by another application. Some security software can cause this problem." Have tried to restore - no luck. Other bookmarks - empty.

Lost all bookmarks

Hello Thunderbird Team I am facing a crisis and am praying you can help me. I have been using Thunderbird since 2021. I had setup my account and archives by year containing messages in Folders (Inbox, Sent & Deleted). During a recent laptop migration, I accidentally deleted my profile on my old laptop. I immdeiately recreated it. However now all email stored in my inbox has disappeared. Second, I cannot seem to locate the archives. So I have 2 requests for urgent support: 1. How do I locate the messages in my inbox prior to deleting my profile? 2. How can I recreate the archive with folders? I can see that the profile folder is a massive 22 GB. So the data is there somewhere. Please help me recreate my email profile so I doi not face a business crisis. Thank You Warm regards Milind

Hello, I am using Time Machine to backup my Mac, but the tool excludes Thunderbird. In settings I have not excluded any files. My Thunderbird folder is fairly large, 25GB - thanks to the great archiving features of Thunderbird, How can I include Thunderbird folder to backups? Thanks in advance for helping. BR Tapio Heikkila

My old Windows10 computer died, but I have an external backup with my Thunderbird profile folder. In the meantime, I have been able to resurrect an old Windows10 computer to continue receiving email, but was not successful transferring the backup profile. Thus, I have "new" profile on this second computer containing only the recent emails not in the backup profile.

I've purchased a new Windows11 computer. My question is: How can I merge my old emails in the backup profile with the recent emails received after the backup was made? In other words, is it possible to merge two separate profiles into one? Thanks.

Illinichip