Update to 68.5 broke Thunderbird on Mac OS X Catalina
I updated from 64.4.2 to 68.5 on Mac OS X Catalina. Thunderbird is stuck on update screen and is refusing to load almost 8 GBs worth of emails. I tried downgrading to 64.4.2 and both replacing entire Profile folder, as well as copying and pasting the individual contents from old Profile to new Profile folder, and it refuses to load. It refuses to read the contents or tells me the folder needs to be opened with latest version of Thunderbird. Tried both methods in 68.5 and it's refusing to load the emails, just add an existing account while not loading any of the old emails.
Chosen solution
After you created the profile, did you add the accounts? You can't just copy the mail into the new profile until the accounts are added, except if you copy the mail into Mail/Local Folders. If you have a lot of mail in an IMAP account and don't want to re-download it when the account is added, I suggest you go offline from File/Offline/Work Offline, add the account, then copy the ImapMail and Mail folders from the old profile to the new one, while TB is closed. To be specific: copy the contents of ImapMail/<oldimapaccountname> in the old profile into ImapMail/<newimapaccountname> in the new profile, just in case the account subfolders have slightly different names, even though it's the same account, e.g. <imap.gmail.com> and <imap.gmail.com-1>.
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See the tail end on this blog post. https://thunderbirdtweaks.blogspot.com/2019/09/i-lost-my-profilemail-on-update-to.html
I followed the instructions and it didn't work. Any other recommendations? It's not loading any of my emails.
If TB hangs during an upgrade, it often helps to delete the global search index sqlite file from the profile folder:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/rebuilding-global-database
Tried deleting global search index sqlite file - it now doesn't fully open and pop-up comes up stating "Profile Missing" "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."
With all the versions and different profiles you've tried, I think it would be faster and more effective to install 68.5 and create a new profile with Profile Manager. Add your accounts, and transfer local mail, address books, calendars etc. from the old profile to the new one.
Deleting the sqlite file may have worked after the initial hang, but at this point a new profile looks like the best approach.
I tried creating a new profile on a fresh install and only moved the imapmail and mail folders - could see the 8 GBs being moved into the new profile. Closed thunderbird and re-opened - it's prompting me to set up an existing email and it's not displaying any of the underlying emails I moved. Any other thoughts or ideas? This has been an eye opening experience. Really trying to salvage this.
Chosen Solution
After you created the profile, did you add the accounts? You can't just copy the mail into the new profile until the accounts are added, except if you copy the mail into Mail/Local Folders. If you have a lot of mail in an IMAP account and don't want to re-download it when the account is added, I suggest you go offline from File/Offline/Work Offline, add the account, then copy the ImapMail and Mail folders from the old profile to the new one, while TB is closed. To be specific: copy the contents of ImapMail/<oldimapaccountname> in the old profile into ImapMail/<newimapaccountname> in the new profile, just in case the account subfolders have slightly different names, even though it's the same account, e.g. <imap.gmail.com> and <imap.gmail.com-1>.
Resolved! Thank you sfhowes!