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How to back up local folders in Thunderbird?

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 168 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

johnd_freeman
johnd_freeman
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I'm looking for the easiest way to back up my local Thunderbird folders. From what I've read, the would be to back up the entire contents of my current Profile folder, as designated in the Application Basics section of the Troubleshooting Information. I recently lost years of emails I had stored in my local folders, but had not properly backed up. I have 2 accounts set up in Thunderbird, would the Profile help me restore both accounts? Any further recommendations would be much appreciated. John Freeman

I'm looking for the easiest way to back up my local Thunderbird folders. From what I've read, the would be to back up the entire contents of my current Profile folder, as designated in the Application Basics section of the Troubleshooting Information. I recently lost years of emails I had stored in my local folders, but had not properly backed up. I have 2 accounts set up in Thunderbird, would the Profile help me restore both accounts? Any further recommendations would be much appreciated. John Freeman

All Replies (3)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You could backup the profile folder, which would include all relevant data and settings, but backing up just the Mail subfolder would include mail in all POP accounts and in Local Folders. To restore a folder, which is represented by an mbox file in Mail/<popservername> or Mail/Local Folders (mbox files are the large files with no extension, named after folders, e.g. Inbox), simply copy the mbox from the backup into Mail/Local Folders of the active profile, while TB is closed. The folder appears under Local Folders in the Folder Pane when TB restarts.

The ImportExportTools NG add-on offers another way to save all mail or export select folders, and to import folders, with or without structure.

johnd_freeman
johnd_freeman Question owner
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Thanks so much! One more question then: is there any advantage to backing up the whole profile folder vs just the Mail subfolder?

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Backing up the entire profile folder is recommended if you wish to copy the entire setup to another computer or restore it to a reformatted PC, and it doesn't require much more storage, since the majority is taken by the mail. But restoring a profile can require some care, depending on the version(s) of TB and the operating systems, e.g. restoring a profile from a Windows setup to one on Linux or OS X. Restoring just the mail is usually simpler if the method of copying mbox files is followed.