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.

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

Restore profile folder after new install

  • 9 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 40 views
  • Paskiausią atsakymą parašė Stans

more options

Hi All

I recently upgraded my C: drive. I created a cloned copy of my drive, installed a new drive and restored the image. After opening Thunderbird though, I've lost all my e-mail accounts and messages in local folders.

I then proceeded to uninstall Thunderbird and re-install - same problem. I could see all the original info in my profiles folder, but somehow it's just not showing up in the program.

I then proceeded to uninstall Thunderbird and manually deleting the whole Thunderbird folder under: c:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming

I then re-installed Thunderbird. It created two new profile folders: c:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\cvnwxoi2.default-release and c:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ifqx6sfj.default

When I choose "open folder" under Help->Trouble Shooting Info ->Profile folder, it seems to open the cvnwxoi2.default-release one.

I then copied all the data from the original xxx.default folder (from my old drive) into this new cvnwxoi2.default-release folder.

But still Thunderbird does not load my 6 e-mail accounts or any old e-mails. Interestingly, my address book seems ok.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I feel like I'm losing my mind here...:-) Regards Andrew

Hi All I recently upgraded my C: drive. I created a cloned copy of my drive, installed a new drive and restored the image. After opening Thunderbird though, I've lost all my e-mail accounts and messages in local folders. I then proceeded to uninstall Thunderbird and re-install - same problem. I could see all the original info in my profiles folder, but somehow it's just not showing up in the program. I then proceeded to uninstall Thunderbird and manually deleting the whole Thunderbird folder under: c:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming I then re-installed Thunderbird. It created two new profile folders: c:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\cvnwxoi2.default-release and c:\Users\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ifqx6sfj.default When I choose "open folder" under Help->Trouble Shooting Info ->Profile folder, it seems to open the cvnwxoi2.default-release one. I then copied all the data from the original xxx.default folder (from my old drive) into this new cvnwxoi2.default-release folder. But still Thunderbird does not load my 6 e-mail accounts or any old e-mails. Interestingly, my address book seems ok. Any help will be greatly appreciated as I feel like I'm losing my mind here...:-) Regards Andrew

Chosen solution

Quit Tbird, then rename the prefs.js file to prefs.bak. Rename the newest prefs-#.js that mentions your missing accounts to prefs.js, then launch Tbird.

Skaityti atsakymą kartu su kontekstu 👍 0

All Replies (9)

more options

Make sure you Quit Tbird and confirm it's not running in the background, before you copy files from the old profile folder to the new one.

more options

Hi Stans

I did quit before copying the folder.

It's weird how my address book imported fine. But my email accounts are gone.

more options

Delete the global-messages-db.sqlite file in the default-release profile, while TB is closed. Do the accounts appear when you restart TB?

more options

Hi sf I tried that, but still no difference.

I can see some xxx.com and xxx.msf file under the ImapMail folder that has the names of all my e-mail accounts. They just are simply not loading when TB starts up - so frustrating :-(

more options

Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles. Select the ifqx6sfj.default profile and click Launch in new browser. Do the accounts appear? If you open prefs.js from the profile folder in a text editor, are there references to the accounts?

more options

Hi SF

Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles. Select the ifqx6sfj.default profile and click Launch in new browser. Do the accounts appear?

No, they don't

If you open prefs.js from the profile folder in a text editor, are there references to the accounts?

There are 9 similar files: prefs.js : no indication of my e-mail accounts prefs-1.js, prefs-2.js all the way through prefs-9.js : all these DO mention the missing accounts

more options

Chosen Solution

Quit Tbird, then rename the prefs.js file to prefs.bak. Rename the newest prefs-#.js that mentions your missing accounts to prefs.js, then launch Tbird.

more options

Dear SF and Stans Thank you so much for your help and perseverance! The last comment from Stans did the trick. It's all back and looking good!!

Regards Andre

more options

You are welcome.