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

How do I retrieve all my local folders and their contents when the automatic Windows 10 updates require me to reinstall the OS and I lose all my apps?

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by sfhowes

more options

Every time Windows 10 automatically sabotages...errrrr...I mean updates my machine, i end up having to reinstall the OS. And every time that happens I lose all my apps. I use all the backup processes Windows provides, plus I occasionally copy every file and store them on a hard drive. But I can never seem to rebuild my folders and find all their contents. Sometimes I can find a lot of the contents but not all.

The problem for me is that I am an attorney, and count on my emails for communications. I often must refer to an old email. Every since I got stuck with Windows 10, this has become difficult due to the problem cause by that miserable OS.

Is there any way I can copy all my folders and contents onto a hard drive, and then use those copies to rebuild the folders in Thunderbird?

Every time Windows 10 automatically sabotages...errrrr...I mean updates my machine, i end up having to reinstall the OS. And every time that happens I lose all my apps. I use all the backup processes Windows provides, plus I occasionally copy every file and store them on a hard drive. But I can never seem to rebuild my folders and find all their contents. Sometimes I can find a lot of the contents but not all. The problem for me is that I am an attorney, and count on my emails for communications. I often must refer to an old email. Every since I got stuck with Windows 10, this has become difficult due to the problem cause by that miserable OS. Is there any way I can copy all my folders and contents onto a hard drive, and then use those copies to rebuild the folders in Thunderbird?

All Replies (4)

more options

If you backup the Thunderbird folder, it is simply a matter of copying it onto a new or existing Windows installation (or another computer) to restore your mail data:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer

The default location of the relevant Thunderbird folder is:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

Enable the viewing of hidden files and folders to see the AppData folder.

more options

Hi erniecicco

If sfhowes' posting helps you, please mark it as a solution. Thanks.

more options

Thank you for your responses. However, the problem goes deeper: I was aware of how to open the folders as described above. What I have found is that all but a very small number of files and folders are not there. It's as if what has been conserved is just sort of a test showing the system works, even though it does not. Also, each of the 3 times times this has occurred, the number of and which files and folders remaining is different, so it doesn't appear to be tied to the specific files and folders.

more options

Are you looking in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Thunderbird ? That folder only contains cached data and is not important for backup purposes.