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Thunderbird account settings not accessible

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by James-A

James-A
James-A
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For unknown reasons, T-bird suddenly can't find the user profile's account settings. T-bird is still pointing at the existing default profile. Checking the profile folder using File Explorer, I can see that the account settings are there in the existing default profile, it's just that T-bird can't find it and wants to setup a whole new account. T-bird is also not finding the existing personal file folders either. If the problem is likely that an initiation file is corrupted, I have access to older generations of c: backups and so can recover any settings file that needs replacing. Can you suggest a recovery solution if that's what is needed?

I'm on Thunderbird 68.8.0 (32 bit) running on Windows 8 Thanks!

For unknown reasons, T-bird suddenly can't find the user profile's account settings. T-bird is still pointing at the existing default profile. Checking the profile folder using File Explorer, I can see that the account settings are there in the existing default profile, it's just that T-bird can't find it and wants to setup a whole new account. T-bird is also not finding the existing personal file folders either. If the problem is likely that an initiation file is corrupted, I have access to older generations of c: backups and so can recover any settings file that needs replacing. Can you suggest a recovery solution if that's what is needed? I'm on Thunderbird 68.8.0 (32 bit) running on Windows 8 Thanks!

Chosen solution

Did this happen after a TB update? One way to fix it might be to replace the prefs.js file in the profile with an earlier, uncorrupted version. Use one from a recent backup, or look for pref-1.js, prefs-2.js.... in the profile folder, rename the current file to prefs.js.bak, then rename e.g. prefs-2 to prefs.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_profile_that_suddenly_disappeared

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All Replies (2)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

Did this happen after a TB update? One way to fix it might be to replace the prefs.js file in the profile with an earlier, uncorrupted version. Use one from a recent backup, or look for pref-1.js, prefs-2.js.... in the profile folder, rename the current file to prefs.js.bak, then rename e.g. prefs-2 to prefs.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_profile_that_suddenly_disappeared

James-A
James-A Question owner
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Thanks so much! Prefs.js was corrupted. Picked up a replacement from backup, then changed the profile name from default as recommended to help prevent this from happening in the future. Cheers, JS