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migrating old emails to new computer

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  • Last reply by doug107

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I have a new PC and need advice on retrieving emails in Thunderbird from my old computer. Unfortunately, I set up Thunderbird on my new pc and started getting and receiving email using the same account I used on the old computer without successfully transferring the profile folder. How can I retrieve all the emails stored on my old computer? I tried replacing the profile folder on my new computer with the one from my old computer, but I only got the most recent emails.

I have a new PC and need advice on retrieving emails in Thunderbird from my old computer. Unfortunately, I set up Thunderbird on my new pc and started getting and receiving email using the same account I used on the old computer without successfully transferring the profile folder. How can I retrieve all the emails stored on my old computer? I tried replacing the profile folder on my new computer with the one from my old computer, but I only got the most recent emails.

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Assuming this is a POP account, you have a bit of work ahead. My suggestion is to copy the message folders from old profile and based into Mail\Local Folders folder. Then, copy the recent mails into that folder so they're all together. Then, exit TB, and copy the updated local folder to overwrite the message folder in the account. To be safe, do backups first.

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Thank you David. What are the file names of the message folders you mention? I am not sure which folders to copy?