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How do I import WL Mail export file (wlmail.fol) into Thunderbird?

  • 2 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by pvoltmer

pvoltmer
pvoltmer
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Exported Storage Folders from WL Mail before windows reinstall. Was having issues with Win 7, so I exported Windows Live Mail storage folders to a wlmail.fol file. How can I import this into Thunderbird without having the original files anymore?

Exported Storage Folders from WL Mail before windows reinstall. Was having issues with Win 7, so I exported Windows Live Mail storage folders to a wlmail.fol file. How can I import this into Thunderbird without having the original files anymore?

All Replies (2)

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Somehow that doesn't sound quite right. I believe the wlmail.fol file is only a tiny text file giving the name of the folder it's inside. It contains no message data. It is used when trying to reconstruct folder structure when importing back into WLM.

You should have exported folders containing *.eml files. .eml files are individual emails and they can be imported into Thunderbird.

See info: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switching-thunderbird

pvoltmer
pvoltmer Question owner
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Appreciate the response, Toad.

I went and exported the Storage folders and it saved a single, wlmail.fol file inside of the Storage Folders folder at my export destination and that was it. Unfortunately, I had to do a fresh Windows 10 install so the e-mails are no longer available for export. I was going to attempt to install Windows live Mail on the machine again and re-import that file and see what happened but so far I cannot find a way to get it to install. We do have a few machines running Win7 yet, so I may use one of those and see what I can get. I'm afraid that they are all gone... Printers and e-mail are my two weaknesses. :(

Thank you!