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Trying to migrate from Outlook but it finds no files

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On Windows 10, I want to migrate from Outlook to Thunderbird. The normal process says it can't find any files. I do find some new emails in junk and rash folders, but have to admit I'm not sure how those got there.

There are many mail files in subfolders of Inbox in Outlook but Thunderbird says it can't find them (see screenshot).

If it matters, this computer used Thunderbird years ago and still has folders, address book, and filters in place. Is it possible that's interfering with the imports? Would it help to scrub all that old data? If so, how do I do that?

Does the import create new Inbox sub-folders? It do I have to create them manually to match what's in Outlook in order for their contents to import?

On Windows 10, I want to migrate from Outlook to Thunderbird. The normal process says it can't find any files. I do find some new emails in junk and rash folders, but have to admit I'm not sure how those got there. There are many mail files in subfolders of Inbox in Outlook but Thunderbird says it can't find them (see screenshot). If it matters, this computer used Thunderbird years ago and still has folders, address book, and filters in place. Is it possible that's interfering with the imports? Would it help to scrub all that old data? If so, how do I do that? Does the import create new Inbox sub-folders? It do I have to create them manually to match what's in Outlook in order for their contents to import?
Attached screenshots

All Replies (4)

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I'm thinking that the Junk and Trash folders may have been downloaded when we first opened Thunderbird prior to attempting the import from Outlook. . Despite not being the default email client, it still seems to b e set up properly to retrieve mail.

Could that be screwing things up?

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I've uninstalled Thunderbird, then deleted the Thunderbird folders I found in AppData/Local and AppData/Roaming. Then I reinstalled Thunderbird.

I tried to import everything and this time it didn't give me the option to import from Outlook. Instead, I got the attached error (No application to import data from found).

I can assure you that Outlook is, in fact, installed as the default mail app and is working just fine.

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Don't select the 'Import Everything' option - it doesn't work. Select Mail. See this post for another method using MailStore.

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sfhowes said

Don't select the 'Import Everything' option - it doesn't work. Select Mail. See this post for another method using MailStore.

Thanks, but I started out trying that (importing just Mail). Giving it one last attempt today still didn't work. It says it doesn't find any files to import.

Modified by BillTreloar