Mac mail folders to Thunderbird
I am in the process of changing my email from gmail in mac mail client to mailfence in thunderbird client and want to move saved mac mail folders one at a time to Thunderbird. It seems straightforward enough but I have one question and it's related to a post on this forum, see below. At the end of the post Stans describes how to move the folders but says it must be done when the TB is CLOSED i.e. not running. This might be a dumb question but how does one copy files to TB when it is closed.
Stans
Top 10 Contributor
7/19/20, 9:50 AM
The Mail app supports exporting entire mailboxes (accounts) to mbox files, as explained here. Thunderbird uses the mbox format for storing messages, so you don't need any product to facilitate this. Simply get the exported mbox files and copy them to the Local Folders folder inside your Thunderbird's profile folder. See Profiles - Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data for details about your Thunderbird profile. The mbox files should be copied to the Mail > Local Folders folder while Thunderbird is closed (not running), then when you relaunch Thunderbird, it will load the mbox files under the Local Folders account.
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I don't use macs, so I can't do a test, but I think the process depends on getting the correct mbox file out of the Mail app export result. See if you can find any clues in this topic:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1200699
If you have the right file and place it in Mail/Local Folders, it shouldn't be necessary to import with the ImportExportTools NG or any other add-on.
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You can use the IET NG add-on to export TB folders as mbox files ('IET NG/Export folder' from the folder context menu), or you can simply copy the mbox files from the profile folder manually. The mbox files are the large files with no extension, named after folders, in the Mail/Local Folders subfolder of the profile folder, and .sbd (subdirectory) subfolders of Mail/Local Folders. Help/More Troubleshooting, Profile Folder, Show in Finder, to open the profile. Close TB before copying any files.
Modified by sfhowes
I really do appreciate the assistance you have provided me and eventually I'll get this done. TB will then become a rather unpleasant memory and I won't have to bother you again. I have looked high and low but cannot find the "folder context menu" so that I can possibly use the add on that you mention. Can you please point me in the right direction? I do have to smile when you use the word "simply" since I'm sure, for you, nothing could be easier and surely it must be obvious to anybody. Anybody, that is, except me and I suspect many more. I hate to tell you this but none of this...
"or you can simply copy the mbox files from the profile folder manually. The mbox files are the large files with no extension, named after folders, in the Mail/Local Folders subfolder of the profile folder, and .sbd (subdirectory) subfolders of Mail/Local Folders. Help/More Troubleshooting, Profile Folder, Show in Finder, too open the profile."
makes any sense to me. I have to say that when I go to the page in Help/More Troubleshooting I am totally intimidated. Transferring the files from Macmail to TB was pretty straightforward, even for me, so can you please tell me if is there an relatively easy way for me to do this? Many thanks
The context menu is the right-click menu. Or, select the folder then Tools/IET NG/Export folder. The add-on lets you do the same operation of exporting the folder, without opening the profile folder and doing it manually.
Ok I don't know what you mean by "right-click menu" or where I should be right clicking. However, no matter, let's try the "or". So, as far as I can tell, this is what I think you're suggesting I do. I select the folder I want to export and then click on "Tools" in the menu bar at the top. However in the drop down menu I do not see "IET NG and I'm using the latest version of TB. Are you using an acronym to describe "Import/Export Tools NG" as "IET NG"?
In Tools if I go to "Add ons and Themes" and then go to "find more add-ons" and I find the add-on "Import/ExportTools NG which I guess I could download to do the job.
Where am I going wrong again?
Not sure what happened to the second paragraph. Let me repeat it. In Tools if I go to "Add-on and Themes" and to "find more add-ons" I find a whole selection including the Import/ExportTools NG one that I referred to at the beginning of this thread. Is this it or not? Where am I going wrong?
Yes, install the IET NG add-on, and then it will appear in the menus.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/installing-addon-thunderbird
Ok thanks again. I'll give it a go!