I-Thunderbird Community Forum

On my old (Win XP) computer I had saved hundreds of messages in Local Folders.

I got a new Windows 8.1 computer a few months ago. I installed Thunderbird and have been using it ever since. But I would like to copy the contents of the Local Folders from the old to the new computer.

Is there a way to transfer them on a memory stick and get them loaded into Thunderbird on the new computer?

Maybe 10 years ago I used Thunderbird on my iMac. - I use Thunderbird at work and decided I miss some of the more advanced features that are not in Apple Mail on my iMac at home. - Especially after reading that Thunderbird could now share both iCloud's Apple Calendar and Contacts. - I am currently using Mac OS 10.11.6. A little behind the times, but I have been using apps that wouldn't run on the newer Mac OS. - Before installing the new version, I opened the old version of Thunderbird, went to the Tools/Account Settomgs and found the directory in the Mac OS library that needed deleted. and deleted it. I did this because most of my logins and settings have changed a lot and I want to import the current local folders and settings from the current version of Apple Mail. I use my email local folders extensively as a type of database to keep a history of purchases and other important information in the local folders. - I then used App Cleaner to delete the ten year old version of Thunderbird and the support files that were not part of the library folder, such as the actual application, Thunderbird. - I then downloaded and installed Thunderbird 60.31.1. Launched it. Chose not to make it my default because I want to make sure it works first. then went to tools/import and noticed I didn't have the the option to Import Everything. See Jpg. attached. - Then decided to try to import just the Mail. Chose Apple Mail. then Next. Got the No Mailboxes were found in the import message. Again, see the jpg. I did the same for the settings and got the "No Application or file to import data from was found" error message. See yet another jpg. I clicked Finish and went to the forums to search for a solution, but found nothing. So here I am. -what did I miss in this setup, migration from Apple Mail and Integration with contacts and Calendar (iCloud based)? Thank you for your assistance.

I couldn't get any of my screen shots to upload. Sorry.

Good morning, I had asked a question early on Saturday, but was unavailable the rest of the weekend so just now responding to associate Corey Bryan's answer. I had gotten a message that I am using an unsupported version and they recommend downloading the latest stable version.

He said it appears that I'm on the "Release" channel and most likely want to be on the ESR channel. I also mentioned that I am a cave-man when it comes to anything computer and am very skittish about making any changes as I don't how to straighten out any errors that might occur.

He asked me where I installed Thunderbird from and the answer is that I don't know. It was an IT guy that did it many years ago.

So I guess my questions are, if I've been using this version for years, do I need to or should I update it? If so, if I click on the latest stable version of Thunderbird, will that change anything on my computer, aside from getting the newer version of T-Bird? And will my e-mails in Thunderbird look any different?

Thanks very much for the help. Tony

I am currently running Thunderbird version 128.11.0esr on Windows 11 on a Dell desktop computer.

I have been running Thunderbird for years. But back in February 2025 my previous Dell desktop died, so had to purchase a new Dell desktop running Windows 11. Then I downloaded Thunderbird and installed it on the new desktop then copied over the profiles that fortunately had been backed up just a week prior. It has been working fine. (When I installed the Thunderbird on the new computer I did not realize there was a difference between ESR (Extended Support Release) channel and Release channel; I just downloaded and installed what I came upon.)

However, around 5/28/25 got a pop-up message that stated something to the effect it is recommended I upgrade to Thunderbird Release.

Should I download and install a new Thunderbird from the Release channel? Will the existing profiles work with the Release channel Thunderbird? Thank you for your help.

Hello!

I started using Thunderbird quite recently. After an unsuccessful installation, Thunderbird deleted it, as well as deleted the profile folder. In order to perform a clean installation of the program.

But after installation, Thunderbird started, to my surprise, already with accounts, and even with add-ons installed. I have not found an answer to my question about the complete removal of the program on the Internet. The only article found from this resource turned out to be without text: just the title. Here is the link to it: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/uninstall-thunderbird.

As a result, I cleaned out the entire registry, as well as all the folders found by the search. And only after that it was possible to install Thunderbird cleanly. In my experience, such deep cleaning has a detrimental effect on the Operating System. And I want to avoid this in the future.

Can you tell me how to remove Thunderbird from your computer COMPLETELY? What exactly should be deleted?

(This is a machine translation)

Got a new computer and I just wanted to transfer all the contacts in my address book from there to my new computer on Thunderbird rather than painstakingly doing it one at a time! Can I import them all?

Hi. I'm having problems with reinstating my profile files after inadvertently letting a software update programme update Thunderbird, leaving me with a blank Thunderbird, i.e no accounts etc. I've tried copying the Profile folder from a backup of 2-3 days ago, but it insists on loading a different profile to the one i want (gasu8cec-default-release). How do I make it load the profile I want?

I have one account set up in Thunderbird through Yahoo/ATT mail. I want to set up two other accounts that both are through schools and Google. I don't think the school mail accounts are on the same server.

Moving Thunderbird from an old laptop (W10) to a new laptop (W11). Doing this for a non-computer-literate friend. Old laptop (bought in 2016) is now running W10 but I assume it was originally W7 and upgraded at some point (by me).

I followed Moving Thunderbird data to a new computer which seemed straightforward. However when I copied the Profile across and restarted Thunderbird there was no data to be seen. I tried again just to be sure, including uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird. Still no joy. [There are support threads about this but they seem to be archived so I can't update them.]

Onwards and upwards. I tried the "export to zip file" option. This had a mild warning that if the Profile was more than 3GB it might (!) be better to back up instead. [Noting that I had already tried this and failed - see above.]

It produced the ZIP file eventually, at an impressive 15.8GB. I then tried to restore from it, but the Restore option refused to find it, showing a comment that the file must be not larger than 2GB. I refer the reader back to the note on the Export option.

I then noted that you could Import from another Profile. I had one of those saved from my first attempts to copy Profile -> Profile. So I tried this option and it worked.

I think my issue was that the old version of Thunderbird was 32 bit and the new version was 64 bit. In which case the document linked to above could do with an update to warn about moving from 32 bit to 64 bit and include the method that worked. [Subject to more testing by others to confirm the solution works reliably.]

The Export dialogue could also do with a much more specific warning, to align with the Import dialogue.

This is a brief summary of a very long day because shifting 15.8GB of data around between computers and in and out as well is incredibly tedious! :-( Noting that the ZIP file and the Thunderbird directory tree with the Profile in are both the same size.

Hello,

I need to import MBOX file from Google Takeout.

When I import the Import Export Tools add-on from file, the file browser shown is not my Chromebook's locally saved files.

How do I install the add-on?

Best, Antonio

I've been reading for two days now but still no solution. Background, have been wanting to try a linux desktop for some time. WinXP going away provided the opportunity. Recently installed Mint 16 Cinnamon on an IBM Thinkpad x41 laptop (overwriting WinXP) with no problems. System connected to the internet fine via Firefox. Also Mint performed all updates as expected.

Next moved on to configuring e-mail using Thunderbird. Entered account info and TB found servers and settings (below) for that particular e-mail address (which I have verified on many sites as being the correct settings):

Incoming IMAP Server:imap-mail.outlook.com Port: 993 SSL: SSL/TLS Authentication: Normal Password

Outgoing: smtp Server:smtp-mail.outlook.com Port: 587 SSL: STARTSSL Authentication: Normal Password

However, when TB attempts to authenticate the account I get "Configuration could not be verified - is the username and password correct?"

I have logged into the account via MS Outlook as well as via the outlook.com web app and verified the user ID and password are correct. I have telnet'd to the individual imap and smtp servers and established a connection so I know I can see the servers via the listed ports.

Thinking it might be a Linux Mint issue - I downloaded TB on a windows7 machine. Same issue. I then tried creating a TB account using my g-mail address figuring I'd try some other servers. All worked fine, found the servers, authenticated and downloaded my mail. I was also able to send messages from this account. Back to the Linux Machine, I did the same thing with the g-mail account and had similar success.

So I think I have isolated it to TB authentication issues with outlook.com but I have no idea how to fix it.

Would greatly appreciate any help you can offer. Being a good Linux N00B, I've read until my eyeballs are ready to fall out but haven't found the solution.

Thank you TC

Dear support/community, I'm a little confused on the support of 115 version of thunderbird. It has been kind of treated as a "esr" version, like below 115.16.0esr indicates.

https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/115.16.0esr/

I know firefox is stopping update until end of 1Q 2025, and my assumption that applies to all Mac, Windows and Linux and till then firefox will get high/medium CVE patches if impacted --- is this the right assumption?

I'm not sure about the situation of thunderbird. while I intend to believe similar to firefox, also told that 115.16 is the last 115 version.

Thanks.

We use the esr channel on all work computers to ensure they are as stable as possible. However, one PC updated to 142esr and one of the plugins we use no longer works. I can't see an easy way to get back to 128.14 and can't find the download file for it on Thunderbird or Mozilla websites. It doesn't make sense that I wouldn't be able to go back considering both updates were released on August 19th, but I'm not seeing how to get back.

Any suggestions?

Hi, folgendes Problem: plötzlich hatte ich keinen Zugang mehr zu TB, hab alles mögliche versucht, nix ging. Hab dann Update versucht, nix, dann neue Version runtergeladen, Meldung: A newer version of TB may have made changes to your profile.... etc. wie krieg ich das wieder hin ????

I was following instructions for the problem of some task bar icons showing as grey boxes. Still have that problem plus added the problem that thunderbird launches with the setup accounts dialogue page. The 'help>troubleshooting information>profile file location' reveals the correct profiles that have been updated to the hour before I caused the problem. I have saved the '...roaming/thunderbird folder to an external SSD, and made a new new thunderbird installation following the instructions for moving files to a new computer. Problem persists. Thunderbird will not 'see' the profiles therefore I cannot see my emails.

This is a new install on my laptop. Almost everything on my office PC synched up on the laptop except T-bird. I loaded it and it found my credentials but it keeps asking me to sign in with Google. I enter my User ID and click next but nothing happens. What am I doing wrong or what is T-bird not doing?

jbacinti

My Thunderbird account was deleted from my laptop during a reset. I re-installed it and successfullyre-installed my gmail email but was told my plusnet email was not recognised, though it had been on the previous Thunderbird account.