Um, so how is one Thunderbird to find the other Thunderbirds? If address books were different, which one would be right?

We do this by synchronizing the Address Book in each Thunderbird to one central common point of reference, just as we do with email by using IMAP.

My choice is Google Contacts. Other "cloud-based" address books may also be useful. Set this up, and set each Thunderbird to synch to it. (I use gContactSync, but there are other options.) You'll need to create a new address book within Thunderbird's Address Book. Once you start using a synchronized address book, you'll probably find that you stop using Personal Address Book, or at least use it less often.

I also run a separate Google account just for its own Google Contacts, and use that to synch phone numbers and selected email addresses to my phone. I do NOT want my entire collection of email addresses in my phone, so this separate account allows a selective approach.

Be aware that various address books take different approaches to storing and managing data. Local variations such as, for instance, postcodes in the UK and zip codes in the USA make it difficult to provide a harmonized solution. So you may experience wrinkles. With Google Contacts, it's most obvious with street ("mailing") addresses; Thunderbird splits them into named fields such as city, county whereas Google lump them into a single text entity.

Your response above was great and I may utilie it at some point. But the my question was a bit different. I have already imported my Google contacts into ONE of my computers onto my Thunderbird email account. My question was why that import didn't show up on all the other computers I have that also have access to the same Thunderbird email account? So if I am working on one computer, say my pc, and log into Thunderbird on my MAC I find my contacts do not sync between the computers. That is what I need to figure out, how do I sync the contact information between one COMPUTER and another? All computers are set up with the same Thunderbird account using IMAP right now. Hope this is more clear. Any insight?

So, are you using gContactSync, or something else?

Zenos said

So, are you using gContactSync, or something else?

I used a typical import operation from Gmail contacts to Thunderbird. I don't even know if I have syncing capabilities set up yet. I am afraid to start something that might conflict with other operations already in place So I hesistate to set something else up unless I know what it will do.

I have an Xfinity comcast email account as a personal account and that is my default. I do not want anything to change with that account and do NOT want that address book to sync to anything else. The Thunderbird mail accounts are set up for a small business that will eventually be tied to our website hosted by hostmonster. Previous to Thunderbird I temporarily set up a Google mail account and that is where the business contacts are located. I am afraid to install a sync without knowing if it will affect my personal email account with Xfinity.

So no, I have NOT installed gContactSync yet.

So there is no mechanism in place to synchronize address books.

I don't know what "a typical import operation from Gmail contacts to Thunderbird" means.

Copying some contacts data to one installation of thunderbird is specific to that installation of Thunderbird. It cannot magically find its way to any other installation of Thunderbird without a synchronization route being set up.

You can manually copy an address book from one computer to another, but it's painful, slow and error prone. If you copy a user-defined mab file you'll need to import it using https://nic-nac-project.org/~kaosmos/morecols-en.html

If you synchroize by using Google Contacts or similar, it will create a new address book inside Thunderbird's address book, and so has no impact on any already-installed address books.

Your choice.

Zenos said

So there is no mechanism in place to synchronize address books. I don't know what "a typical import operation from Gmail contacts to Thunderbird" means. Copying some contacts data to one installation of thunderbird is specific to that installation of Thunderbird. It cannot magically find its way to any other installation of Thunderbird without a synchronization route being set up. You can manually copy an address book from one computer to another, but it's painful, slow and error prone. If you copy a user-defined mab file you'll need to import it using https://nic-nac-project.org/~kaosmos/morecols-en.html If you synchroize by using Google Contacts or similar, it will create a new address book inside Thunderbird's address book, and so has no impact on any already-installed address books. Your choice.

Yes, I did basically 'copy' the gmail address book to Thunderbird on ONE computer thinking that the address book would automatically be updated on all computers because it is just the one Thunderbird account. That is how it worked with mmy personal Xfinity email but perhaps that account already had a built in syncing operation and therefore crosses from one computer to another. I guess I assume since these are internt based operations it always syncs to specific accounts no matter which computer is used as long as you are signed in to that account. Now I think I understand that nothing will sync until I install a sync application. I thank you for confirming that using gContactSync will not have an impact on my Xfinity files. Will I have to install gContactSync on each computer that uses the Thunderbird account in order for syncing between these computers or just one?

Yes, you'll need the add-on in each Thunderbird you want to synchronize.

Email providers offer email. With IMAP, we have a system where one central message store is made visible to email clients on various computers, so all share the same set of folders and messages.

There is no such common standard for address books so email providers don't (can't!) offer address book or contacts synchronization for email clients. If you have used webmail, and it offers an address book, then that address book is stored on the provider's server, alongside your email messages. But since there is no standard protocol, they can't offer that address book to email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird.

Google have set themselves apart by not only operating an address book service, Google Contacts, but have published an API which allows 3rd party software to connect to it and exchange data with it. This is what the gContactSync add-on takes advantage of.

There is also a Google Contacts add-on, which is popular but I have found less satisfactory than gContactSync. Please try them both to see what suits you best.

An independent approach could be to use this add-on:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/addressbooks-synchronizer/

which allows you to set up an address book synchronized to a store of your own choosing; you can use an IMAP-connected email account, an ftp server and so on. I don't use this one myself because I'd want it to be able to work with an Android tablet and a Blackberry phone, and this is a Thunderbird-only add-on. (Since Google own Android, and Blackberry is quite intentionally Google-aware and Google-compatible, use of Google-provided services is the obvious path of least resistance.)

Zenos said

Yes, you'll need the add-on in each Thunderbird you want to synchronize. Email providers offer email. With IMAP, we have a system where one central message store is made visible to email clients on various computers, so all share the same set of folders and messages. There is no such common standard for address books so email providers don't (can't!) offer address book or contacts synchronization for email clients. If you have used webmail, and it offers an address book, then that address book is stored on the provider's server, alongside your email messages. But since there is no standard protocol, they can't offer that address book to email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. Google have set themselves apart by not only operating an address book service, Google Contacts, but have published an API which allows 3rd party software to connect to it and exchange data with it. This is what the gContactSync add-on takes advantage of. There is also a Google Contacts add-on, which is popular but I have found less satisfactory than gContactSync. Please try them both to see what suits you best. An independent approach could be to use this add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/addressbooks-synchronizer/ which allows you to set up an address book synchronized to a store of your own choosing; you can use an IMAP-connected email account, an ftp server and so on. I don't use this one myself because I'd want it to be able to work with an Android tablet and a Blackberry phone, and this is a Thunderbird-only add-on. (Since Google own Android, and Blackberry is quite intentionally Google-aware and Google-compatible, use of Google-provided services is the obvious path of least resistance.)

Zenos said

Yes, you'll need the add-on in each Thunderbird you want to synchronize. Email providers offer email. With IMAP, we have a system where one central message store is made visible to email clients on various computers, so all share the same set of folders and messages. There is no such common standard for address books so email providers don't (can't!) offer address book or contacts synchronization for email clients. If you have used webmail, and it offers an address book, then that address book is stored on the provider's server, alongside your email messages. But since there is no standard protocol, they can't offer that address book to email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. Google have set themselves apart by not only operating an address book service, Google Contacts, but have published an API which allows 3rd party software to connect to it and exchange data with it. This is what the gContactSync add-on takes advantage of. There is also a Google Contacts add-on, which is popular but I have found less satisfactory than gContactSync. Please try them both to see what suits you best. An independent approach could be to use this add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/addressbooks-synchronizer/ which allows you to set up an address book synchronized to a store of your own choosing; you can use an IMAP-connected email account, an ftp server and so on. I don't use this one myself because I'd want it to be able to work with an Android tablet and a Blackberry phone, and this is a Thunderbird-only add-on. (Since Google own Android, and Blackberry is quite intentionally Google-aware and Google-compatible, use of Google-provided services is the obvious path of least resistance.)

Thank you again, I am getting closer to having the whole picture. Making decisions on what to do from here and whih system to end up with is much easier when someone inches you along! Now, one last question:

Once I have installed gContactSync on all computers accessing the Thunderbird account and my current contacts have been transferred to Thunderbird, will there be automatic syncing between these COMPUTERS with each NEW contact I input even if I only input the data on one computer?

Yes!

It will do automated synchronizations periodically, and you can force it ad-hoc from the menu. When it synchs, if there are changes it reports what changes are to be made.

Zenos said

Yes! It will do automated synchronizations periodically, and you can force it ad-hoc from the menu. When it synchs, if there are changes it reports what changes are to be made.

I thought of one other thing. I no longer need or want the gmail account and after the gContactSync is installed and info from my Google Contacts are transfered to Thunderbird can I cancel or delete the gmail account and will the syncing still work across Thunderbird?

No!

It's basically keeping all the Thunderbird address books synchronized with the host google account's address book. The google account is what holds it all together.

I suppose you could delete the host google account, and you'll get sync failure messages, but the separate address books will probably persist - but they won't be able to share data, which is the whole point of the exercise. You could, as I have done, generate new google accounts purely for address book synch purposes. You don't have to use them as email accounts. ;-)

gContactSync and GoogleContacts are both specifically intended to synch the local Thunderbird Address book with a Google Contacts address book; they don't connect Thunderbird-to-Thunderbird.

One further approach is to use something like DropBox as a common resource. But since there's no simple way to make Thunderbird look outside of its profile for address book files, you need to indulge in softlink or symlink skullduggery, or indeed drop the entire profile into DropBox. I don't think it's practical, as a small change such as the receipt of a small message can result in a change to a large file and a great many gigabytes being pumped up to the DropBox server, and down again when you next run Thunderbird. (And who's to say DropBox is any more or less secure or private than Google?)

And yet another approach is to put the whole of Thunderbird onto a USB thumbdrive and carry your email client and its data store with you. Look up Portable Thunderbird if this sounds attractive. This seems to appeal to users who cannot access "the cloud" or choose not to, usually for reasons of privacy, but Portable Thunderbird is Windows-only and that rules it out for me. A halfway house is to put just your profile on a thumbdrive, but some add-ons which are important to me (that includes Lightning) have binary components and are compiled for specific platforms, so wouldn't work on both Windows and Linux. And that also means it wouldn't be available to my Android and Blackberry devices.

Tried to install gContactSync 1.1.2. and neither my Linux laptop nor Windows pc would allow due to Firefox version. I have Firefox 34.0 on taptop and 33.0 on pc. Now what?

You need to install into Thunderbird, not Firefox.

http://chrisramsden.vfast.co.uk/3_How_to_install_Add-ons_in_Thunderbird.html

Zenos said

You need to install into Thunderbird, not Firefox. http://chrisramsden.vfast.co.uk/3_How_to_install_Add-ons_in_Thunderbird.html

Ok, I've done all installing. Now when I go to Thunderbird the gContactSync button appears on my toolbar Dropdown options are many. When I choose 'sync' I get a prompt to 'login in before trying to sync. Log in to what? I am logged in to both my gmail account and to my Thunderbird account. When I choose 'log' and scroll thru the log I see an Authentication Error 403. I've sent an Error Report Form in but have not heard back yet.

When I choose 'new account' or 'edit account' I get a promt tp 'select the account to sync or enter Google Account credientials'. But my google account name does not appear on the drop down list only my Thunderbird accts do and no way to change that. Other option on that prompt is to 'use a new account' but it doesn't recognize my gmail account. Hence the authentication error. Now what?

Thank you both for your help with this. I was persistant and followed as many directions as my brain allowed. This am I rec'd a few notices from Google about someone trying to sign into my account. I assumed that it had to do with what I am trying to do and Google prompted me to change some settings on my Google account. I did that and the remaining set up and syncing of gContactSync finished without additional hiccups. So thank you. Will get back to you if any other issues arise. T