Thunderbird
I started using Thunderbird about a year ago after giving up on Outlook. I decided to start from scratch with TB. All my old Outlook folders and messages had been downloaded from the server, so if I needed to I could always fire up Outlook offline and refer to something from my archive. I then used TB very happily for 11 months.
Earlier this week my computer's SSD failed while under warranty and was replaced FOC by the supplier. I restored all my apps and data. The only issue I've had any problem with is my Thunderbird data.
Reinstalling the TB application was easy. Getting it to connect with my email server was rather harder but I managed to get it done, so now I can receive and send emails.
However, instead of my current list of TB folders, what I am seeing is my old Outlook folders from 11 months ago - every single one of them empty, I hasten to add! It's a complete mystery to me how TB has managed to pick up that particular profile!
Luckily I had backed up TB just before the SSD failed. All my TB folders and messages should therefore be safe and it ought to just be a matter of persuading TB to call up the correct profile. But I have got nowhere after hours of trying different approaches suggested by other TB users on various support threads.
In my TB backup I can see that the folder structure I want, and all the associated messages, are located in ...\Thunderbird\Profiles\wu6p6f5w.default-release\Mail\[my email folder]. I'm unclear why a couple of extra folders have been added on to wu6p6f5w.default-release, but if that's what is on the backup it can only mean that TB created the extra folders.
I made sure to copy all the contents of [my email folder], with the full identical file path, to my reinstalled TB profile; that TB's default profile pointed to wu6p6f5w.default-release; and then I restarted TB. But nothing changed: the empty Outlook folders were still there instead of the relevant TB folders.
I tried copying the contents of [my email folder] directly into wu6p6f5w.default-release. Again that made no difference, so I changed the profile path to point at ...Profiles\wu6p6f5w.default-release\Mail\[my email folder]. But still, no difference.
I hate to criticise TB, which in the main I think is excellent, but does this profile setup really have to be so complicated? That said, any suggestions would be very much appreciated!
Chosen solution
Yes, the profile can be anywhere, as the profiles.ini in appdata/roaming/thunderbird will point to it. I have mine in c:\\TBIRDPROFILE The important folders are the ones not seen in your images. They are the ones in the mail folder.
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I suggest you start over. Copy the backed up profile to a new location, e.g., c:\\myprofile . Then, get to C prompt and the run command window and enter thunderbird.exe -p and press enter. That will bring up the profile manager. Click 'create profile' and browse to and select wherever you stored the profile. I think that should work, as your comments about copying contents into the profile concerned me. I hope this works for you.
Hello David, many thanks for your help. I see what you're saying about copying contents being the wrong approach. I've known other apps like TB, which during setup must actively 'read' their relevant settings and not just be passively fed a bunch of files.
I'm afraid I'm still not out of the woods, though, as I'm still justgetting the old, empty Outlook directory structure.
Did you mean I can put the new location literally anywhere, as in c:\my profile, which TB will read wherever it happens to be? Or did you mean it should go in Users/.../AppData? (which is where TB creates the profile after being pointed at the new location)?
I've created 3 screenshots, which I hope I'll be able to attach to this message: - The one called myprofile.png has all the correct folders. The 2 folders titled suppliers000000 (where 000000 stands for 6 digits), which respectively are 'suppliers - IT' and 'suppliers - other', as I named them in TB, prove this is the correct set of folders. - 'TB profile.png' is the profile as it's up by TB after being pointed at \myprofile. - 'wrong folders.png' is the old Outlook set of folders that's still being shown by TB. The 2 folders 'IT suppliers' and 'other suppliers' are my old Outlook titles. And, of course, they are all empty!
Chosen Solution
Yes, the profile can be anywhere, as the profiles.ini in appdata/roaming/thunderbird will point to it. I have mine in c:\\TBIRDPROFILE The important folders are the ones not seen in your images. They are the ones in the mail folder.