Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Trying to access an archive of emails from a 2006 version of thunderbird

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by christ1

bsgaines
bsgaines
more options

I have some old emails with information that I need to access. I've saved them on disk, but haven't used them in years. Now I need to try to access the files. The outer folder is named "mail" and 3 subfolders are named "local folders" and then two named by the pop servers they were associated with.

Inside the folders, I have files named inbox (no file extension) and inbox.msf. The files lacking extensions seem to contain all the data.

I can't seem to import these messages into a current version of thunderbird. Any ideas on how I might be able to access the old emails?

I have some old emails with information that I need to access. I've saved them on disk, but haven't used them in years. Now I need to try to access the files. The outer folder is named "mail" and 3 subfolders are named "local folders" and then two named by the pop servers they were associated with. Inside the folders, I have files named inbox (no file extension) and inbox.msf. The files lacking extensions seem to contain all the data. I can't seem to import these messages into a current version of thunderbird. Any ideas on how I might be able to access the old emails?

Chosen solution

Thanks... it's a little tricky, so in case anyone has the same problems down the line: you need to use "import mbox file" (which seemed to me would work for some .mbox file extension). It worked.

Thanks!

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (4)

bsgaines
bsgaines Question owner
more options

Here's a screenshot of the folder contents.

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Install this add-on and use it to import the Inbox files into your current profile. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/

bsgaines
bsgaines Question owner
more options

Chosen Solution

Thanks... it's a little tricky, so in case anyone has the same problems down the line: you need to use "import mbox file" (which seemed to me would work for some .mbox file extension). It worked.

Thanks!

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

The mbox file is the one w/o an extension.