How many address books can you see? You must have at least Personal Address Book alongside Collected Addresses.

Select an address book, then Tools|Export to copy an address book to a CSV or LDIF file.

If you want vCards, try this add-on: https://nic-nac-project.org/~kaosmos/morecols-en.html

http://www.ramsden.org.uk/3_How_to_install_Add-ons_in_Thunderbird.html

The personal address book has even less names and addresses. Could I be saving the names and addresses in a different book that does not show up?

When I type a few letters of a name or address into a new email thunderbird automatically fills in the rest of the address or make suggestions of other names similar with the same letters. I want to add all of these names to my Apple mail program but the address contacts available to export is incomplete.

Thanks

I have never used a Mac, so I don't know what it looks like, but Thunderbird can read from the apple address book. So it's possible that it is already finding addresses in your external address book and which are not explicitly listed in Thunderbird's address book.

The access to Apple's address book is read only, so you can't edit/change the apple address book from Thunderbird.

I don't know of any way to hide address books in Thunderbird, so I'm puzzled by the suggestion that there are unseen or invisible address books at work here.

You do have the directory pane visible (at the left) in Thunderbird's Address Book?

I do see the directory pane and of the 3 lists, each only has a sprinking of the contacts. I would think all of the addresses would be in the .mab files in the proifile folder of Thunderbird. is there a way to copy and past the .mab file to Apple Mail?

I would think all of the addresses would be in the .mab files in the proifile folder of Thunderbird.

is there a way to copy and past the .mab file to Apple Mail?

Do you have these addresses in mailing lists perhaps?

No I wish I did. There must be a contact book somewhere on my computer

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Sharing_address_books

read section 'Share the OSX System's Address Book' Do you have 'File' > 'Use Mac OS X Address Book' selected? This might explain where the other email addresses/contacts are available.

More possible help: https://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/thunderbird_cannot_seem_to_find_the_mac_os_x_address_book

quote Richard 1 year ago Did you see my answer posted earlier in this string? "Apparently at the latest Thunderbird upgrade, the Mac OS reset a security preference. Found under System Preferences/Security & Privacy is a check box to Allow Thunderbird to access CONTACTS. Now all my Mac Address Book contacts are visible." This worked for me, and I am able to update CONTACTS, and see them in Thunderbird. I think I had to restart for this to take effect.

OK figured it out. All of the contacts I was looking for were on my AOL and Gmail servers. I went into gmail and aol and exported all the contacts there into my apple contacts program.

All there now!

Thanks for all the help.