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Merge problem

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  • Last reply by david

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I have two computers, one older with TB 115.9.0 32 bit, pop. The other has 115.9.0 64 bit, imap, same email address. I have tried to merge them, but when i do the Thunderbird Import folder has zero messages and no subfolders. I also tried changing the old TB to IMAP, didnt work: "configuration problem". Any help would be appreciated.

I have two computers, one older with TB 115.9.0 32 bit, pop. The other has 115.9.0 64 bit, imap, same email address. I have tried to merge them, but when i do the Thunderbird Import folder has zero messages and no subfolders. I also tried changing the old TB to IMAP, didnt work: "configuration problem". Any help would be appreciated.

Modified by Wayne Mery

All Replies (18)

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MERGE PROBLEM

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Please provide details on exactly what you are wanting to achieve. Thank you.

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Thanks for replying David. I want to bring the local folders from the old computer into the local folders on the new one.

    History:  For years the email,   ***@rochester.rr.com    (always used TB), got so many scam emails coming in that I only looked at it once in a while.  I was getting up to hundreds of emails a day, 99% were junk.  About a year ago I bought the new computer and put TB on it and used my email on that, generating new local folders. I just retired and finally have time to address this.  I want to merge the local folders from the old computer into the new one.
    More info:  On each computer I sorted all emails by Correspondents, so I could get rid of pages of junk at a  time.  Once I had gone through about 65,000 emails, I was able to stash what was left in designated local folders.  This cleared out the inbox, and now I can easily clear it out day by day.  I did get a new email,
      • @yahoo.com, and added that to TB on my new computer. Soon I want to close the old email (and stop paying for it), but need to combine the local folders on the new computer to sort/purge them.
    Let me know if you need anything else
    Thanks, Bob
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NOTE: The merging and pop-to-imap were done from articles in TB Support.

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use the import-export addon. for the old folder, highlight, rightclick and select the import-export menu and from there select the option to export eml format. That creates each message individually. on the new folder, highlight, rightclick, select import-export and select the import eml feature. That process moves the messages from one folder to another and merges them. NOTE: if the receiving folder is IMAP, create a new local folder and import there. Then, create a filter to move the folder contents to the imap folder . the filter slows the process and minimizes loss. be sure to check when done for possible lost messages, as IMAP was not designed for large uploads.

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I think I imported ok, except it had some different language in the import/export drop-downs, see pics. Also it somehow brought extra files over with local folders, but i deleted them in file explorer. How do I filter for IMAP?

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I exported to a portable hard drive, but didn't do the import til we can confirm that i did it right.

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I exported to a portable hard drive, but didn't do the import til we can confirm that i did it right.

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OK, you have the messages in .eml format on portable drive. Here are steps. - create a temporary folder in Local Folders - highlight the folder and rightclick and select import-export addon - use import-export addon to import all eml from a directory and select the portable drive folder - now, click tools>message filters and create a new filter for the account (top row of filter pane) - tick box to run manually and do NOT tick to run after getting mail - create a condition that all messages will pass, e.g., subject does not contain xxxxxx - create action to move messages to your desired imap folder - click OK when done. - now, on bottom row, you can define the temporary folder on which to run filter and click 'run now' - afterwards, do a spot check to verify that message are intact. i don't know if you are moving hundreds or thousands, but the more there are, the more likely to run the risk of some messages being corrupted.

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-Thousands! -Does this look right? See pics It doesn't seem to be running. -All folders at once or just one at a time?

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The screenshots are too small to see. Maybe a larger one? This may help -

  https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/take-screenshot-windows-10
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Hope this is better

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Maybe I'm too conservative. I would do one at a time so that you can position them where you want them. And importing all might bring too many? However, if the folders are currently in a structure you like, then that may be the best for you. Ultimately, it's a personal decision. AND, you can always delete and start over.

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Thanks, I'll try it tomorrow.

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Sorry David, I've got a hard time limit on Saturday for something else. I did try yesterday with one small directory, but that didn't run. I'll try again by Sunday, and if that doesn't work, I'll send more detail then. Thank you.

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I DID SOLVE IT...with your help and patience! I was right clicking on each of the Local folders to export, then import. This wasn't working. ,"

  - Solution:  First I put all my emails from various sub-sub-folders under the local folder, into their parent sub folder.  This was on the old computer. 
    - Then I created the same (sub)folders "TB xxx," on my portable hard drive.  
    - Then I went to each sub-folder on TB on old computer, and exported from there to their corresponding one on the hard drive.
    - Then I went to each corresponding sub folder on TB on new computer, and imported each from the portable hard drive subfolder.
    - This worked like a charm and the emails appeared in their new computer TB sub folder.  All workde fine except for one folder that had 3400+ emails and it would only import about 2/3 of them.  I took about 1/2 of the emails and put them in a second sub folder on the old computer ,"xxx2".
    -Then I did the same process as above, importing each of these into the same sub folder, and it worked great.  All the emails were fine and i did not have to filter!   Now all I have to do is pass them out to their

sub-sub-folders.

Thanks again David for all your help.

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Great! You're most welcome. Free beer all around. :)