12.0.1 really is old so you are about 8 years out of date :)

Start by making a backup of your profile. Exit Thunderbird. Copy the 'Thunderbird' folder that is located in the 'Library'. Store it on eg: an external drive in a folder called 'TBv12.0.1', so you know that it is a copy of the original and what version was used. On a MAC, Profile folders are located here:

   ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/ 

The tilde character (~) refers to the current user's Home folder, so ~/Library is the /Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Library folder.

There has been so many changes that introduced various files.

Create a new profile with Thunderbird 78:

• Menu app icon (3 horizontal bars) > Help > Troubleshooting
• Under the 'Application Basics' section at the bottom - click on 'about:profiles'.

See info:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-thunderbird-profiles#w_manage-profiles-when-thunderbird-is-open

Then, in the new profile:

• Menu app icon (3 horizontal bars) > Help > Troubleshooting
• Under the 'Application Basics' section about 8th in list 'Profile Folder'
• click Open Finder' to open the profile folder.
• Exit thunderbird now.

Access your backup: Do not attempt to reuse an entire profile from an earlier version of TB.

Copy the 'abook.mab' and 'history.mab' from the old profile into the new one.

Copy local mail from the old profile to the new one, do it manually by copying the mbox files = the files with no extension, named after folders - from Mail\<popserver> to Mail\'Local Folders' folder or ImapMail\<imapserver> in the old profile to Mail\'Local Folders' folder in the new one. Note: if you have folders with .sbd extension then they may also contain mbox (no extension) files.

So basically copy all your mbox files into the 'Local Folders'. See image below as guide.

Start Thunderbird Create the mail accounts if not done already. Old emails should be located in the 'Local Folders' mail account.

Alternative is to use an addon to import the mbox files: https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools-ng/

Hi Toad-Hall,

Thank you for your suggestions! I will try out these techniques and see how it goes and will let you know if I have trouble.

Bruce K.

Hi Toad-Hall,

I am still quite flummoxed. I followed your instructions as best I could and nothing is showing up in the new Thunderbird. I copied and pasted all the files from the old profile to the new one. They show in the new profile, but when I open the program there is no address book(s) and no inbox, and no folders that I had previously set up.

I've tried to uninstall Thunderbird(v.78) and start from scratch but that doesn't work either. The profiles remain in the Library. For a while there were numerous profiles adding up. I deleted all the ones that said 0kb data.

How does one get hands-on help in this forum? Is there anyone who can engage with me by email or by screen-share to help me?

Thank you.

PS: the link, https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools-ng/ leads to a download of an xpi file, which seems to be incompatible with Mac OS.

In thunderbird, go to add-ons > extensions > and type in "import" and search. Add the add-on from that search result.

Wayne, Thank you for your suggestion. I was able to add on the add-on, but it did not import the profiles. It was not able to import any mail or messages.

Is it possible that my version 12.0.1 for the Mac is so old that the file names or structures are simply not recognized by the newest versions?

Bruce

The current version of import-export will not run in version 12. And I wouldn't trust it to import super old profiles.

Personally, I would advise creating a new profile only as a last resort. Backing up first - My first choice is manually update via help > about. If that fails, download, install and run each of the following in succession until help > about gives you updates:

• https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/15.0.1/mac/en-US/Thunderbird%2015.0.1.dmg
• https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/17.0.8/mac/en-US/Thunderbird%2017.0.8.dmg
• https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/24.8.0/mac/en-US/Thunderbird%2024.8.0.dmg
• https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/45.8.0/mac/en-US/Thunderbird%2045.8.0.dmg

Yes, excellent idea!

Whenever I try the 'update' in 12.0.1, it tells me that the program is 'up to date.' That is the main reason I haven't been able to update for the last couple of years.

I will try your suggestions later this evening and will tell you how it went.

Thank you!

Bruce K.

Hello Wayne Mery,

Your suggestions worked perfectly. THANK YOU!

Migrating up in steps worked exactly as expected. All the previous emails, organized in their previous folders, as well as all the address books, have been preserved.

One glitch I experienced was that last step, getting to v. 78. I used the links you sent for the dmg files to ladder up to v.45.8. Somehow, I also had a dmg of v.68.6. on my computer and that worked, too. Jumping to 78.3.3 (using the dmg file) caused that same original problem-- having to create a new profile and having to migrate all the old data. BUT, this was finally solved using the update button in the 'about Thunderbird' info window. I asked for an update to latest version and it instantly updated itself to 78.3.3.

Thank you for helping me out. I can continue to use Thunderbird on my Mac.

Best to you,

Bruce K.