How do I see the messages from an old profile?
Hi there, I have been using Thunderbird as my local client for a long time. I recently changed my email host (same email address, but moved from one.com to protonmail) and in setting up the new profile I accidentally deleted the old one, deleting all my old messages from the inbox at the same time. I have found my profile folder on my computer, but can't now get access to it - there are two folders in that space on my computer, one with the old one.com profile and one with the new protonmail one. Can anyone tell me how I can get access to the old profile messages? Thanks!
Vahaolana nofidina
I believe you may be talking about 'mail accounts' not 'profiles'.
Thunderbird by default will set up profile name folder in this location. C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\
'Profile name' folder by default is usually called 'xxxxxxxx.default' where the x's are letters and numbers.
The 'Profile name' folder will contain many files and folders. The 'Mail' folder contains Pop mail accounts and 'Local Folders' mail account. The 'ImapMail' folder contains imap mail accounts.
The 'mail accounts' contain mbox files (assuming any imap accounts downloaded full emails).
The mbox files do not have any extension and they contain emails. They have the same name as the folder you would normally see in the Folder Pane in Thunderbird.
The *.msf files are just indexing files and do not contain emails. Any folder with a .sbd extension means that folder had subfolders. So, *.sbd folders may also contain mbox files.
You could use an addon called 'ImportExportTools' to import the mbox files into the 'Local Folders' mail account.
Link to 'ImportExportTools' addon extension:
Hamaky an'ity valiny ity @ sehatra 👍 1All Replies (2)
Vahaolana Nofidina
I believe you may be talking about 'mail accounts' not 'profiles'.
Thunderbird by default will set up profile name folder in this location. C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\
'Profile name' folder by default is usually called 'xxxxxxxx.default' where the x's are letters and numbers.
The 'Profile name' folder will contain many files and folders. The 'Mail' folder contains Pop mail accounts and 'Local Folders' mail account. The 'ImapMail' folder contains imap mail accounts.
The 'mail accounts' contain mbox files (assuming any imap accounts downloaded full emails).
The mbox files do not have any extension and they contain emails. They have the same name as the folder you would normally see in the Folder Pane in Thunderbird.
The *.msf files are just indexing files and do not contain emails. Any folder with a .sbd extension means that folder had subfolders. So, *.sbd folders may also contain mbox files.
You could use an addon called 'ImportExportTools' to import the mbox files into the 'Local Folders' mail account.
Link to 'ImportExportTools' addon extension:
Novain'i Toad-Hall t@
Thank you so much! That has solved my issue and I now have my emails back. Thanks for taking the time to reply and explain how to do that, much appreciated.