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error: Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded

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  • Last reply by atErik

dhender
dhender
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I use Ubuntu and installed Thunderbird. But I get an error message: "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible." Please advise me how to fix this.

I use Ubuntu and installed Thunderbird. But I get an error message: "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible." Please advise me how to fix this.

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atErik
atErik
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TB-profile in Linux (ubuntu,etc) can be in slightly different folders, but general location is here: "~/.thunderbird/" or here: "~/.mozilla-thunderbird-<profile-name>/"

the "~" aka $HOME directory is usally here: "/Users/<LinuxUserName>/"

so mentioned TB-profile is actually here: "/Users/<LinuxUserName>/.thunderbird/"


you will find TB-profile sub-folders "xxxxxxxx.profile-name" either under above mentioned two location, or under "Profiles" sub-folder.

try to use exact same version of TB what you were using earlier. if you find "*.mab.bak" files inside TB-profile folder, rename them back to "*.mab".

files/folders that uses dot "." as 1st char/symbol, are hidden files/folders , so in your File-Browser software : select the option to Unide them 1st or Show hidden files. if you press Ctrl+H in file-browser , then hidden files will be shown , another press of Ctrl+H will toggle the view mode & hide them.

disable auto-update in TB.

once/when mail-accounts, settings, etc are working fine, then export Contacts from TB-Address-Book into CSV,txt, etc file. update/upgrade TB into latest series/version of TB. import contacts from CSV/txt,etc file.


see macOS & windows based info pages linked in below, then you can apply similar pattern in linux.


More/Related Info: • Regain old data , in Windows : by using downgrade process, or by using a Second-TB, or by using manual file-transfer,etc). • Downgrade TB in macOS: downgrade by using second-TB , upgrade/downgrade TB. • Convert MAB/mork based Address-Book into other format. • Disabled auto-update of TB : inside the linked page , click on the topside 1st link to goto the auto-update disable instruction page into another website.

Modified by atErik