Thunderbird is a popular email client for both personal and professional use. However, if you need to move your data from one computer to another or simply want to back it up, you may not know how to do it. In this guide, we will show you how to backup Thunderbird email files so you can reinstall Windows or move to another computer without losing your email accounts, settings, and themes.
First, make sure you have Thunderbird installed and have all the data you want to move. Then, click the hamburger button in the top right corner next to the search bar, head across to Help, and click on Troubleshooting Information.
Next, find the Open Folder button next to the Profile Folder. Once you click on it, a folder will open up. Close Thunderbird completely and head back one folder to the Profiles folder. Then, back another folder to the Thunderbird folder and finally back again to the Roaming folder where you see Thunderbird. Here, you can simply copy your Thunderbird folder or make a backup and zip it up.
To move the folder to another computer, right-click on it and click Send to Compressed Zipped Folder. Then, download Thunderbird on your other computer and install it. Bring the folder across or a place that you zipped up into the new computer. Once you open Thunderbird, it will not be set up, but you can cancel out of the Add an Account window.
Next, head across to the same hamburger icon > Help > Troubleshooting Information, and click Open Folder once again. Close Thunderbird, head back three folders to the Roaming folder, and bring across the folder from your backup. Copy it into this Roaming folder. It will copy all the files that it doesn’t already have. When it’s complete, you will be asked if you want to override some files or not. When asked if you’d like to replace files, simply click Replace, hit Replace the Files in This Destination, and close the Roaming folder and the zip that you copied across.
Once you open Thunderbird again, you should see all your email accounts, settings, themes, etc. However, you will need to put the passwords in for all these accounts again. Simply enter a new password, enter a password, and click OK.
In conclusion, moving your Thunderbird email files to another computer or backing it up is simple and easy. It is always important to backup your data so you don’t lose important information. With this guide, you can easily backup your Thunderbird email files and move them to another computer or simply reinstall Windows without losing your essential data.