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Problems copying Thunderbird profile to new PC

DavidMW
DavidMW
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I'm setting up a new PC running Windows 10, and transferring data from an old PC running Windows 7. I've copied the contents of the old Thunderbird profile folder into the new profile folder. The contents of the Inbox is all there fine. However the Sent Items are there in a folder 'Sent-1', and the 'Sent' folder is empty (the same applies to the Archive folders). I'm guessing the copy has not overwritten all the contents of the new folder. Should I start again, and delete all the existing contents of the new folder before copying over the old profile contents? Obviously I don't want to risk losing any messages etc! Thanks.

I'm setting up a new PC running Windows 10, and transferring data from an old PC running Windows 7. I've copied the contents of the old Thunderbird profile folder into the new profile folder. The contents of the Inbox is all there fine. However the Sent Items are there in a folder 'Sent-1', and the 'Sent' folder is empty (the same applies to the Archive folders). I'm guessing the copy has not overwritten all the contents of the new folder. Should I start again, and delete all the existing contents of the new folder before copying over the old profile contents? Obviously I don't want to risk losing any messages etc! Thanks.

All Replies (2)

DavidMW
DavidMW Question owner
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Hi. I've since re-installed Thunderbird 78 and carefully followed the recommended procedure for transferring the profile from the old machine to the new one. I ended up with two profiles so I used the profile manager to choose which to use. The new (installation) profile invites me to set up new accounts as you would expect. The old (transferred) one presents me with some elements of the expected identities and messages, but with additional Sent folders with -1 suffix. Thunderbird is seemingly not connecting with the server. If I attempt to move a message from the Sent -1 folder to the Sent folder it simply disappears. I'm completely baffled as to how to proceed. I could set up the accounts manually, and would have access to all messages on the server, but not the local folders. Can I selectively copy over the offline folders, and the address book? I'd be really grateful for some help on this! Thanks.

Jaroslav Jurijovych Mazurak
Jaroslav Jurijovych Mazurak
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I'm not sure about recent Thunderbird versions but there is an excellent tool to migrate your profile with data files to other place -- mozbackup (http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/), you can try it.