How do I backup email contact mailing lists and lists within address books?
How can I backup, in a form I can retrieve (rather than access from TB), each of my email contact mailing lists and lists within address books? I'll be migrating from pop to imap and a different GoDaddy email platform. I want to backup my email contact lists and mailing lists plus emails (in a fairly complex system of folders) if at all possible. I'm using TB 68.5.0 (32-bit). I'm also looking at switching over to Linux soon from Win 7. How do I do this? Is there anything I'll need/need to know when switching to Linux? Thanks a ton.
Chosen solution
I don't think you opened the csv file in the spreadsheet correctly. The column names in the first row should be First Name, Last Name, Display Name, Nickname etc. What do you see if the csv is opened in a text editor, even a basic one like Notepad?
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If you export an address book with mailing lists, the lists are not included. You can export lists separately, but you would have to add them again to the imported address book. For that reason, it's best to copy the abook.mab (Personal Address Book) from one profile to another, as that will preserve the lists.
Copy the Thunderbird folder from Windows to the corresponding location on Linux to replicate the entire TB setup:
I'm hoping whoever I have change me over to Linux will be able to use the info in these links. Meanwhile, I'm still wondering how I can save contact lists and, I guess, pull them up in another form (.doc?) so I could copy/paste into a new program if I had to.
When you select an address book or mailing list, then Tools/Export..., the output formats are shown in the attached picture. Almost any mail app can import csv files, but vCard or LDIF may be preferable, depending on the app. LDIF is best for importing to TB, vCard for some mobile apps. Comma separated can be edited in a spreadsheet, and all formats are viewable in a text editor.
Hmmm ... we're getting closer. Is there a way to get more than one contact at a time? With lots of contacts, it could take forever.
An address book contains multiple contacts. If you don't see the list of books in Address Book, check that View/Layout/Directory Pane is enabled. Press Alt if the Menu Bar with View is hidden. Select a book in the Directory Pane (not All Address Books), then Tools/Export.
I have my various address books so that I can view/click on them but, when I did the steps you gave (2nd post), it only got me one of the contacts from the address book I chose. See image.
Chosen Solution
I don't think you opened the csv file in the spreadsheet correctly. The column names in the first row should be First Name, Last Name, Display Name, Nickname etc. What do you see if the csv is opened in a text editor, even a basic one like Notepad?
That gets me all the data, altho in an awkward format, but should be sufficient for just-in-case situations. At least I wouldn't have to contact everyone to regain the data. Thank you for your help. J