Join the Mozilla’s Test Days event from Dec 2–8 to test the new Firefox address bar on Firefox Beta 134 and get a chance to win Mozilla swag vouchers! 🎁

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Can't get an old profile loading on a fresh install

more options

Trying to use my old profile on a fresh install.

After trying a few things I ended up with an error that the profile couldn't be loaded or was inaccessible.

So I did the following:

1) started the profile manager 2) removed all profiles 3) created a new profile 4) changed the name of the folder in the file system 5) copied my old profile folder to the same spot with the same name that the profile manager gave it

When I started thunderbird, I was just expecting it to load with my old profile.

Instead, I got the Account Setup screen.

I don't want to setup my email account, as I'm worried it will start downloading all my emails, and store them in who knows what profile. I could not see a way to start Thunderbird without it successfully connecting to an email server in this setup process.

Any suggestions for just getting mozilla to start and load my old profile please?

Trying to use my old profile on a fresh install. After trying a few things I ended up with an error that the profile couldn't be loaded or was inaccessible. So I did the following: 1) started the profile manager 2) removed all profiles 3) created a new profile 4) changed the name of the folder in the file system 5) copied my old profile folder to the same spot with the same name that the profile manager gave it When I started thunderbird, I was just expecting it to load with my old profile. Instead, I got the Account Setup screen. I don't want to setup my email account, as I'm worried it will start downloading all my emails, and store them in who knows what profile. I could not see a way to start Thunderbird without it successfully connecting to an email server in this setup process. Any suggestions for just getting mozilla to start and load my old profile please?

Chosen solution

i finally worked it out. there was a folder inside the profiles folder .... you can see it in the image above the j9yblahblah.slt directory .. I needed to choose it as the folder, not it's parent :)

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (5)

more options

- click help>troubleshootinginformation - scroll down to 'profiles' and click 'about:profiles' - click the 'create profile' button in upper left - click next - enter name for the profile, such as, 'oldprofile' - click the 'choose' button to locate and select your old profile - click ok

If it starts with a prompt for email account, that may be an indicator that thunderbird had problems with the profile.

Helpful?

more options

I did what you suggested, and closed Thunderbird.

When I started it up again, I get a "blank" Thunderbird, as in the screen shot

Helpful?

more options

i'm pretty sure i've got the root of the profile folder correct.... but just to make sure, is this what it should look like?

Helpful?

more options

Yes, that looks like a profile. You might browse the Imapmail folder for IMAP accounts and the Mail folder for POP accounts and local folders. You addressbook should also appear in the profile root as abook.sqlite.

Helpful?

more options

Chosen Solution

i finally worked it out. there was a folder inside the profiles folder .... you can see it in the image above the j9yblahblah.slt directory .. I needed to choose it as the folder, not it's parent :)

Modified by sportspunterau

Helpful?

Ask a question

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.