This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

I accidentally uninstalled Thunderbird. I used system restore, but now I get an error message saying "couldn't load XPCOM".

psjones999
psjones999
more options

I'm in a panic. I have many saved emails related to my business. I thought I had uninstalled an old version to Thunderbird while retaining the new version, but both were uninstalled. I used system restore to retrieve it, but I get the error message "couldn't load XPCOM' when I try to open Thunderbird. What can I do?

I'm in a panic. I have many saved emails related to my business. I thought I had uninstalled an old version to Thunderbird while retaining the new version, but both were uninstalled. I used system restore to retrieve it, but I get the error message "couldn't load XPCOM' when I try to open Thunderbird. What can I do?

Chosen solution

I would just reinstall Thunderbird again. Windows has a habit of showing 2 versions installed. As you found out it is not accurate and by trying to clean up things you delete everything.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (3)

user01229325
user01229325
more options

Chosen Solution

I would just reinstall Thunderbird again. Windows has a habit of showing 2 versions installed. As you found out it is not accurate and by trying to clean up things you delete everything.

psjones999
psjones999 Question owner
more options

Thank you. I read another post stating that the actual emails are stored elsewhere. I found an older version of Thunderbird on my computer, reinstalled and all my emails are back. I've seen updated Thunderbird and everything's fine. It was a few hours of panic, but I've learned some valuable lessons...

user01229325
user01229325
more options

Good reading! How to backup your profile. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-thunderbird-stores-user-data