How to Move Your Old Email/Folders to Thunderbird 3.0?

Answer 1

These days, keeping email is more vital than ever. However, times change, and so do the methods of storing email and moving it to a new computer. This article explains how to install current email onto a new computer utilizing the Thunderbird mail application. This applies only to version 3.0 and higher.

First, copy your old mail data. For that, follow whatever instructions are appropriate for the old program. It can be different from program to program, which is why that won’t be discussed here. Once you have your old mail on a disk or in a file ready to be inputted onto the new computer, download the latest Thunderbird application, install it, and follow these steps.

1. Using windows explorer, go to Desktop -- Users -- AppData -- Roaming. That’s four total clicks to get from opening explorer to the roaming section.

2. Scroll down the list until you find the folder for Thunderbird. Click on it to open.

3. Click on the Profiles folder. This will take you to the new profile or the default profile set up when you installed Thunderbird 3.0+.

4. Click on the profile folder, which will be a series of numbers and letters and could have the word ’default’ at the end of it.

5. Click on the folder labeled ’mail’. There you’ll see the specific folder that has your server name. For Comcast users, for example, it would say: mail.comcast.net. This is where your mail is. Click on this, and you’ll see your inbox, sent, trash, and other basic email folders present in all applications.

Now all you have to do is copy your mail and folders into this mail folder, and you’re set. Go ahead and let your old files overwrite the inbox and other folders so that your old inbox et.al. replace the ones just created by Thunderbird. If you have your Thunderbird open while you are copying/moving your old mail into the new, you must shut it down and restart it in order to see all of your folders and email.

That’s all there is to it. With Thunderbird 3.0, your profile and mail are kept in this Roaming folder so that if at any time in the future you have problems with Thunderbird, you can uninstall and reinstall, and it will always find your email, preferences, and settings and automatically make it the default in the new installation.