You can install this add-on and import the .eml files into Local Folders or a subfolder you may want to create before. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/

After installation, Thunderbird does not show “Local folders” unless an account is specified.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here.

File/Open... Saved Message. File menu is also accessible from the hamburger icon.

You can install this add-on and import the .eml files into Local Folders or a subfolder you may want to create before. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/

Thanks, that will be helpful. I understand I can also drag and drop EML files; however, the problem is not how to import EML files, but how to see Local Folders without already specifying a mail account.

After installation, Thunderbird does not show “Local folders” unless an account is specified.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here.

After installing Thunderbird 38.4 in Windows, it displays the screen in the attachment. I would of course like to work with Email rather than Chat, Newsgroups or Feeds, but selecting Email prompts me with the “Welcome to Thunderbird” dialogue; if I select “Skip this and use my existing email,” it opens the Mail Account Setup. I do not want to set up an account, however, only import and view locally saved messages (the EML files exported from Lotus Notes) under Local Folders, so I do not continue with the account set up. I need to figure out how to allow Thunderbird to show me Local Folders without specifying an existing or new mail account.

sfhowes said

File/Open... Saved Message. File menu is also accessible from the hamburger icon.

I can open individual files via File > Open > Saved Message, but not sort hundreds of them under Local Folders.

Thanks for the help so far, and for answering so quickly.

I found a possible solution to the problem—possibly not the only or the best—by specifying a bogus account, that is, by entering a fake domain and not entering a password. Tbird now shows both the fake account and Local Folders in the left-hand pane.

I had this idea already, but didn’t use it since it seems inelegant. After reading that someone else found it the easiest solution:

https://commons.lbl.gov/display/~jwelcher@lbl.gov/Reading+an+mbox+file+with+Thunderbird

Unfortunately, I entered a domain that I only imagined is bogus, and TB started to connect. Fortunately, the certificate was invalid and I could refuse the connection and specify a properly bogus domain. :)

I’ve already configured the folder where the files should be stored, and will later transfer the files to another computer. There I’ll probably isolate the messages by accessing them from a separate profile.

Thanks again for the help.