partial migration of email account to new laptop... issues with IMAP
Hello and thanks in advance to anyone offering help, very much appreciated. My partner hates computers but has to deal with them for her home based work. After long struggle she has got to grips and enjoys the functionality of Thunderbird. Her old laptop is on the way out and we got her a new upgraded machine (Lenovo windows 11). a 'friend' tried to solve a problem in the past and created a second account locally on her laptop that mirrors the incoming emails to her main BTinternet mail account. however, sometning went wrong and she hasd over 15000 duplicated emails on the second back up account. We wish to istall Thunderbird on her new machine as she doesn't like to windows mail app and noy 'enjoys' (sic) the thunderbird, especially coulering emails for easy reference. we were told that if she deletes the second account, all of the mirrorede emails on the desired/to keep BT account will also be lost. we are now wondering if it is possible to download Thunderbird onto the new machine and somehow not import the unwanted account when she signs in etc. We are hoping also that when she downloads and installs and signs in.... (the above query accepted) that her folders will also import and be populated. But!... only for the account she wants. i hope this has been clear? The server is imap from BTinternet email thnaks to all who read this far
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Yes, because it is IMAP, she loses nothing. All the messages are on the online server. Yes, if two IMAP accounts on the same PC are the same account, then it's safe to remove one account and lose no messages. I suggest leave the old PC alone and start fresh. If she has an addressbook on the old machine, that can be copied to the new PC. That may not be important, so I won't delve into details unless asked.
David, thank you so much for this speedy response:) May i restate what you say to be sure i've grasped it please?
to clarify: 'Yes, if two IMAP accounts on the same PC are the same account',:.....
they both share the same email address but have different names and if i delete the unwanted account on the local machine the server maintains the original copies unless i change this option in settings and any email existing in both accounts on the local machine are not related to each other as such but related only to the server originals. Deletion locally will not affect the server data.
to clarify: " I suggest leave the old PC alone and start fresh"
when i download Thunderbird to the new machine and use the email address applicable to my BT server, only one set of local folders & current messages will appear on the new machine/new Thunderbird app.... because the server is not interested if i have 2 or 10 named accounts with the same email address on the local machine.
We would very much welcome any guidance on migrating the address book.
David, thank you so much
The address book's name is abook.sqlite An easy way to access it is to click help>troubleshootinginformation, scroll down to 'profile folder', click 'open profile' and you will be in Windows File Explorer and you can highlight the file and copy to a USB stick or other external device. On the new PC, click tools>import>import from a file>import addressbook and then select the sqlite option.
you have made our day David.... we really appreciate this support... goodbye and enjoy your day.. best regards steve et.al
You're welcome. It was my pleasure to assist.