Cannot locate Thunderbird profile folder on Windows 11
I'm trying to move Thunderbird to a new PC. Both PC's are running Windows 11. I've followed the instructions for locating my profile. According to "Troubleshooting Information" my profile is supposed to be located at "C:\Users\photo\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\k6i7koof.default-release\Mail\Local Folders". When I click on the "Open Folder" button, I receive an error message that the folder does not exist. When I try navigating to the folder manually, I can not find a "Thunderbird" folder under "AppData\Roaming". I've selected "Show Hidden Files/Folders" under Windows Explorer. I know my profile exists because I can access a set of Local Folders when I'm in Thunderbird. I'd really like to move those folders over to my new PC. Any help to find the profile folder will be much appreciated.
Chosen solution
More than one way to skin the cat... I ended up doing an EXPORT of my profile on the old PC to an external hard drive, then IMPORTED it to my new PC. Voila, all my folders showed up just fine -- which is what I was trying to accomplish. Thanks sfhowes for the pointer to the other solution. It came in about the same time I was doing the import and probably would have solved the problem.
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Are you using a portable version, or did you do the install from https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/ ? Or is it from the Microsoft store? Highlight a folder in Local Folders, rightclick and select properties. That should show you the location of the file and that should let you surmise where the full profile is.
I downloaded/installed Thunderbird from the Microsoft Store. Doing what you said shows C:/Users/photo/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/k6i7koof.default-release/Mail/Local Folders/Family as the location. I get a "Windows can't find" error message. Following the path, once again, the "Thunderbird" folder doesn't exist under AppData/Roaming/ ... or, at least, I can't see it -- and, apparently, Windows can't either.
Chosen Solution
More than one way to skin the cat... I ended up doing an EXPORT of my profile on the old PC to an external hard drive, then IMPORTED it to my new PC. Voila, all my folders showed up just fine -- which is what I was trying to accomplish. Thanks sfhowes for the pointer to the other solution. It came in about the same time I was doing the import and probably would have solved the problem.
I have this issue to. The issue is further complicated because my export is over 4gb and failing every time.
I also downloaded from microsoft store. I have a Snapdragon EliteX laptop. Perhaps this is an ARM integration issue.
If I attempt to navigate to the %APPDATA% location (I tried CMD, WSL, Win Explorer), I do not see the files for thunderbird. Something funky is happening.
cardonesc said
I have this issue to. The issue is further complicated because my export is over 4gb and failing every time. I also downloaded from microsoft store. I have a Snapdragon EliteX laptop. Perhaps this is an ARM integration issue. If I attempt to navigate to the %APPDATA% location (I tried CMD, WSL, Win Explorer), I do not see the files for thunderbird. Something funky is happening.
If you can't find the profile for the Store version in APPDATA, make sure hidden files and folders are visible, and search for a file that is in every TB profile, such as abook.sqlite.