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Import of profiles fails

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  • Last reply by david

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I have cleaned and re-cleaned existing Thunderbird installation; export still creates a 2.7GB file which import fails with. HOW DO I MIGRATE MY PROFILE? (Firefox migrate was smooth as butter) I have used Thunderbird for 10 years, but am ready to switch to a different mail client if I can't get it migrated. PLEASE HELP!

I have cleaned and re-cleaned existing Thunderbird installation; export still creates a 2.7GB file which import fails with. HOW DO I MIGRATE MY PROFILE? (Firefox migrate was smooth as butter) I have used Thunderbird for 10 years, but am ready to switch to a different mail client if I can't get it migrated. PLEASE HELP!

Chosen solution

My suggestion was to copy the thunderbird folder, but your posts indicate that you attempted to copy the profile itself. Please just copy the thunderbird folder, which includes the profiles and also the profiles.ini file. The receiving path should be c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird, overlaying the current contents and to do this when TB is not running. No, the r is not a factor.

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you didn't explain what you're attempting. If from one PC to another, the profile on old PC is at c:\users\<ourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird If you have that folder, the job is easy. Just install TB on new computer and then copy that folder to the same place on new PC (with TB NOT running) and then start TB. If you have a different situation, please share.

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I did this several times. I even renamed the profile (folder) to the default that TB created. When TB was started, it apparently didn't recognize the profile as the account set up kicked of repeatedly. What am I doing wrong?

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if you copy the 'thunderbird' folder, renaming the profile will then corrupt the setup. the thunderbird folder contains both the profile and the profiles.ini that points to it. Nothing there should be changed prior to, or after, moving to the c drive.

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If I copy the profile folder over and place it in the ...\Profiles\ directory, how does TB react (recognize the new profile)? A conversation could fix this in less than a minute!

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I have copied C:\Users\WLL\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles\lukrqhwd.default from the old laptop to: C:\Users\Larson Family\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles\lukrqhwd.default on the new laptop. I then started TB and it immediately went into the account setup. What should I do so that TB will recognize the new profile?

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Do you still have the old c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird? If so, that is the key folder, not the one you mentioned.

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I have copied C:\Users\WLL\AppData\roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\lukrqhwd.default from the old laptop to: C:\Users\Larson Family\AppData\Local\Roaming\Profiles\lukrqhwd.default on the new laptop. I then started TB and it immediately went into the account setup. What should I do so that TB will recognize the new profile? Does the lower case r in old laptop path make a difference? If other files need to move can you specify please since the path is now known? Thank you VERY much! Can we talk 9194143385

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Thunderbird was in the new laptop path (inadvertently left out in cut/paste from file explorer)

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Does the lower case r in old laptop path make a difference?

I found that the lower case r was an artifact of windows (file) explorer, so it should not be a problem.

I am still unable to start TB on new laptop with the old laptop profile. BTW: old laptop = Windows 7 Premium/ TB 102.13.0 32 bit BTW: new laptop = Windows 11 Premium/ TB 115.0 64 bit

Please help.

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Chosen Solution

My suggestion was to copy the thunderbird folder, but your posts indicate that you attempted to copy the profile itself. Please just copy the thunderbird folder, which includes the profiles and also the profiles.ini file. The receiving path should be c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird, overlaying the current contents and to do this when TB is not running. No, the r is not a factor.