Thunderbird does not remember passwords after upgrading old version (24.3.0) to 91.8.1
Hello!
After upgrading from a very old (but perfectly working) version of Thunderbird (24.3.0 on Windows 7) to 91.8.1 (on the same Windows 7 system), Thunderbird can no longer remember my passwords.
Apart from this everything in the new version works. Emails are retrieved fine when I enter the passwords manually.
Symptoms:
- always asks me for my passwords, even when I have checked the "Use Password Manager to remember this password" checkbox.
- no stored passwords show up in "Saved Passwords ..."
- When I try to set a primary password (I did not use one so far), I get an error "Unable to change Primary Password".
What I tried after searching for solutions:
- Remove files cert*.db and key*.db from my profile. Does not make any difference.
best regards
Edwin
Chosen solution
Woohoo, I think I solved the problem:
As I already noted above, I could not find the file pkcs11.txt in my old profile. I noticed that the new, empty profile created by the re-install did have this file. So I made an experiment:
- Copy the file pkcs11.txt from the new profile to the old one.
- Edit the copy: Under "parameters=configdir", there is a path to the (new) profile directory stored in this file. I changed the path to point to my old profile directory (using 8.3-format directory names as was stored by Thunderbird in the new profile. I don't know whether this is necessary. Note: You can display the 8.3-names using DIR /X on the command line.)
Now everything seems to work! Thunderbird remembers the passwords, they show up under "Saved Passwords" and I could even set the primary password, which did not work before!
P.S.: To switch between profiles, you must run Thunderbird with the "-p" switch to get into the Profile Manager. On Windows, use Win+R and type "thunderbird.exe -p" to start the Profile Manager.
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (9)
Reinstalling Thunderbird worked here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1367928
P.S.: I found many proposed solutions suggesting to delete certain files but some of them do not appear on my system:
- cert9.db is there (and gets recreated)
- key4.db is there (and gets recreated)
- pkcs11.txt is NOT there
- session.json is NOT there [CORRECTION: I did find this file now and it is also recreated by Thunderbird.]
Modified by edwin.steiner
Stans said
Reinstalling Thunderbird worked here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1367928
I tried uninstalling and re-installing Thunderbird. The re-install created a new, empty profile. Within this empty profile, I tried to set a primary password and it worked, so I assume saving passwords would also work in this new profile.
However, I really want to keep using my existing profile. I started with the Profile Manager and selected the old profile with all my settings. Now Thunderbird again failed to set a primary password and failed to remember my passwords.
Apparently there is some incompatibility between the new Thunderbird version and my existing profile from the old version. Is there any way I can transfer my profile to the new version, avoiding this problem?
Chosen Solution
Woohoo, I think I solved the problem:
As I already noted above, I could not find the file pkcs11.txt in my old profile. I noticed that the new, empty profile created by the re-install did have this file. So I made an experiment:
- Copy the file pkcs11.txt from the new profile to the old one.
- Edit the copy: Under "parameters=configdir", there is a path to the (new) profile directory stored in this file. I changed the path to point to my old profile directory (using 8.3-format directory names as was stored by Thunderbird in the new profile. I don't know whether this is necessary. Note: You can display the 8.3-names using DIR /X on the command line.)
Now everything seems to work! Thunderbird remembers the passwords, they show up under "Saved Passwords" and I could even set the primary password, which did not work before!
P.S.: To switch between profiles, you must run Thunderbird with the "-p" switch to get into the Profile Manager. On Windows, use Win+R and type "thunderbird.exe -p" to start the Profile Manager.
Modified by edwin.steiner
I was going to suggest you copy everything from your old profile folder to the new one, except for the cert*.db, key*.db, pkcs11.txt and sessions.json files.
You can switch profiles using the inbuilt Profile Manager UI too. See Profile Manager - Create and remove Thunderbird profiles
Stans said
You can switch profiles using the inbuilt Profile Manager UI too. See Profile Manager - Create and remove Thunderbird profiles
Thanks, good to know.
Cookies are enabled. Signing in with Google has no effect. I complete the form, but no sign in occurs. Same with my Comcast email account, I enter the user name and password, but no sign in occurs.
Hello,
I also recently upgraded from V2.x to recent 102.3.3 and it is not possible to save passwords or set a Primary password. I'm on Win7.
Nothing suggested on this or other posts works, so this must be a bug in the program.