Yonke imikhiqizo Community Forum

I rebooted my Windows 11 PC yesterday and apparently Thunderbird updated to version Thunderbird 128.6.1esr (64-bit) during the reboot. Unfortunately, when I opened Thunderbird, it showed a Create New Account screen instead of my existing email accounts. I went to "about:profile" and it lists my existing profile as the default, but it will not access any of the accounts in it. I've tried reinstalling Thunderbird over the existing copy and get the same result. I'm at a loss as to how I can retrieve many, many years of emails in six accounts!

I've been using the extension "Tree Style Tab" and "TST Colored Tabs." I've been looking for a way to disable the native Firefox tab bar, whether on top of the window or to the left side. I haven't been successful on my own.

After a couple of hours troubleshooting this with CoPilot, It suggested I post the following short summary:

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Firefox 152.0.6 (64-bit) about:profiles shows active profile: C:\Users\dmerc\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\usm8kxcr.default-release

Opening that directory from about:support shows an empty folder.

profiles.ini references: agwp164m.default-release

userChrome.css loads correctly in a separate profile but not in the profile containing my current extensions and history.

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The details of how it came to this conclusion:

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Based on everything you've found:

The profile with your current extensions and recent history is reported as: usm8kxcr.default-release

Opening that profile folder shows an empty directory. The only other real profile on disk is: agwp164m.default-release

We successfully proved userChrome.css loads in a different test profile (Profile 1) because the toolbar turned red. Therefore, the CSS mechanism itself works on your machine.

My conclusion is that your Firefox profile registration has become inconsistent. Firefox appears to be using a profile that does not correspond cleanly to the profile folders you're seeing in Explorer. At this point I would:

Back up the entire folder: (NOTE: DONE - backed to to another drive) C:\Users\dmerc\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox

Keep using the profile that contains your extensions and recent history. Avoid deleting any profiles or profile folders.

Post the details you've collected to either: the Mozilla Support forum, or r/firefox

The key facts to provide are: Firefox 152.0.6 (64-bit)about:profiles shows active profile: C:\Users\dmerc\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\usm8kxcr.default-release.

Opening that directory from about:support shows an empty folder.

profiles.ini references: agwp164m.default-release

userChrome.css loads correctly in a separate profile but not in the profile containing my current extensions and history. \ Those facts point to a profile-management issue rather than a Tree Style Tab or CSS issue.

The good news is that your current extensions and recent history are still accessible, so this doesn't look like data loss. The profile mapping itself needs to be untangled before custom CSS can reliably be applied.

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It also suggested not copying any folders and files between profiles for now.

Good morning,

I’m reaching out because I’m having trouble with my Thunderbird email and need some assistance.

I was using Thunderbird without any issues before, but now all my old emails have disappeared. I can still receive new messages, but I’m unable to send emails like I used to. I also can’t recover or view any of my previous emails.

It seems like something may have reset or become corrupted, and I’m not sure how to restore my old messages or fix the sending issue.

Could you please help me get Thunderbird working properly again and recover my old emails if possible?

Thank you for your support.

Dee

Why do I continue to receive a message from Firefox after creating a New Profile?

Firefox This profile was last used with a newer version of this application. Please create a new profile. OK

A new profile PERSONAL #2 was created following the Steps to Create a New Firefox Profile.

What did I do wrong? how to correct, so that I stop receiving the error message?

I'm trying to move from Windows to Linux without downloading all my imap messages again. What I've tried: 1. Install tbird on Linux, create new profile. 2. Close tbird. 3. Using Linux file manager,

 - delete contents of new profile folder
 - copy contents of old profile folder into new folder
 - delete Compatibility.ini in the copy

4. Open tbird with -p (profile manager)

I've tried twice with different results. The first time at step 4 I started offline. Thunderbird opened will all my previous tabs open, except that all the internet tabs reported connection failure - as expected. Under account settings, both local folders and my gmail account reported the correct (new, linux) path. When I went online and completed the gmail OAuth dialog thunderbird reported an inbox summary folder error, and deleted all the imap mbox files. I closed and restarted tbird- which failed with a crash dump. the terminal window reported successful minidump creation- the file manager showed the minidump file at zero size.

I repeated the process (recreating the original unmodified profile). This time at step 4 I started online, and tbird never opened- it generated the crash dump immediately.

Two questions: 1. Is it possible to transfer an imap profile and avoid re-downloading all the old messages? 2. What am I doing wrong that I'm getting the crash dumps?

Windows: [Compatibility] LastVersion=147.0_20260108190847/20260108190847 LastOSABI=WINNT_x86_64-msvc LastPlatformDir=C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird LastAppDir=C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird

Linux: [Compatibility] LastVersion=140.12.1_20260628021646/20260628021646 LastOSABI=Linux_x86_64-gcc3 LastPlatformDir=/initrd/mnt/dev_save/Thunderbird-portable64/thunderbird64 LastAppDir=/initrd/mnt/dev_save/Thunderbird-portable64/thunderbird64

In the Move Thunderbird data to a new computer article, it says under "An alternative method for Mac":

"CAUTION: Do not open Thunderbird again on the original computer - unless you repeat the process in reverse to transfer the folder contents back to the original computer before opening the app. (If you forget, you can manually check one version against the other to ensure important messages are retained, but it's messy and time consuming.)"

It's not entirely clear to me why this would be an issue, but it makes me wonder if that would make the following use case problematic:

1. The user already has Thunderbird on "Computer A" set up, and wants to copy their Thunderbird profile onto "Computer B" to get the same setup and email accounts on both computers. They intend on using both "Computer A" and "Computer B" simultaneously. For simplicity's sake, let's assume all email accounts use IMAP, so emails are synced with the server, and thus simultaneous access between multiple clients is possible.
2. The user follows the instructions to copy their Thunderbird profile from "Computer A" to "Computer B".
3. The user opens Thunderbird on "Computer B" to make sure everything is working (let's say it's working and emails are syncing to "Computer B").
4. The user then opens Thunderbird on "Computer A". Their expectation would be that they would see the same emails and settings as on "Computer B". If they composed/moved/deleted an email on either computer, those changes would sync and be visible on the other computer.

Would this be an issue? Or should the user just start anew on "Computer B" and manually sign in to all of their email accounts again?

Hello,

My little brother signed me out of my mozilla account while trying to login to his school account using my computer yesterday. Now, even after signing his account out AND removing his account entirely from my firefox, I'm unable to login using my credentials on the "original profile" which is what I've always used. This is the message I get when trying to login:

This profile was previously synced to a different account To keep your data organized and secure, each Firefox profile can only be synced to one account. To sign in using (email)@gmail.com, create a new profile.

He wasn't even able to fully login with his account, and even after completely removing his account from my firefox (as far as I know) I'm not able to sign into the original profile at *all*, even though that's what I've always used. Does anyone have a solution for this?

When I try to login with my Firefox account to configure Sync, I get a message that says that I am logged on to a different profile and asks if I want to switch. If I switch, I get the same result with the other profile. There is only one profile folder in the Profiles directory, there are no other files or folders. What should I do?

Or to open the profile selection sidebar?

I don't see it in about:keyboard but maybe there's something else somewhere.

If not, what's the quickest and easiest way to switch profiles?

As explained in the subject line - title, I do NOT need nor use the Today Pane.

It use taking up needed space for the down arrow & popping up distracting me.

How do I eliminate it? I will even, if necessary edit Thunderbird to get rid of it.

'AND bold text' somehow, a new version of Thunderbird was created - downloaded and all my passwords AND bookmarks are gone. I looked for the profile, but it's new so does not contain passwords NOR bookmarks.

THANKS! Remain WELL & be SAFE!

Robin

is there any way to perform a dynamic backup of Thunderbird. By that I mean a regular (e.g. daily) backup of the profile or at least the mailboxes using a scheduler without closing Thunderbird down?

I created a new profile on my account. Whenever I am in the original profile, I can click on the new profile and it will open a new window with a new icon. However, I notice that under the new profile, it is not signed in. When I try to sign in, I get an error that says

Account already in use xxx@gmail.com is already signed in to the “original” profile

You can only associate this account with one profile on this computer.

Then it forces me to switch back to the original profile. This tells me that the profile is not syncing for access across devices.

This is happening on my macbook.

i have been with Firefox since it started and now you have changed it to the pint where i am leaving it . i want my original profile i do not want any old profiles where i lose everything like bookmarks and everything i have added extensions you forced me to leave to leave unless i can keep the old profile always see you Firefox you have just forced me to go to chrome thanks a lot unless i can keep the old profile original prpofile and still update the versions as need ed other wise good bye to you