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Can not find folders after tranfering Thunderbird to new computer

  • 6 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by shayneca

shayneca
shayneca
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Hi,

I am transfering my Thunderbird profile and messages to a new computer. My old computer is Windows Vist the new computer Windows 7. I transfered the information based on the following link. I did the first method titled OFFICIAL MEHOD http://smallbusiness.chron.com/transfer-thunderbird-new-pc-54020.html

After transferring everyting is the same, except I do not see the folders on the left pane or the emails I stored in said folders. Approximately 30 folders.

I went to Folder Pane is checked under Lay out. Under View, Folders, All is checked.

I have tried two times to transfer the data and have retarted my computer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Shayne

Hi, I am transfering my Thunderbird profile and messages to a new computer. My old computer is Windows Vist the new computer Windows 7. I transfered the information based on the following link. I did the first method titled ''OFFICIAL MEHOD'' http://smallbusiness.chron.com/transfer-thunderbird-new-pc-54020.html After transferring everyting is the same, except I do not see the folders on the left pane or the emails I stored in said folders. Approximately 30 folders. I went to Folder Pane is checked under Lay out. Under View, Folders, ''All'' is checked. I have tried two times to transfer the data and have retarted my computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Shayne

All Replies (6)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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It's much easier to copy the Thunderbird folder rather than just the profile:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1048444#answer-694547

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1105882

shayneca
shayneca Question owner
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sfhowes said

It's much easier to copy the Thunderbird folder rather than just the profile: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1048444#answer-694547 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1105882

Thanks for responding. I tried that and I still do not see my folders and subfolders.

Shayne

Zenos
Zenos
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Are you confident that it is copying all the folders in the profile? I recall a first attempt at moving a profile in Windows failed for me because it had copied only the top layer of folders. I'm not sure quite what I did to get it to work, apart from perseverance.

Look into Mail and ImapMail in your copy and see if these contain folders corresponding to your accounts, and folders or files within them corresponding to the lost folders. (Note that account folders within Thunderbird are represented by files in the file system.)

Modified by Zenos

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If a normal copy of the TB folder is failing to include all the folders, it may work better if you copy the folder as an archive, e.g. right-click the TB folder, Add to zip or Add to archive... (depending on your archiving program). Then, copy the archive file to the new computer and unzip or extract it in the correct location. This method has worked here in numerous situations, and besides it makes the smallest possible file to transfer.

shayneca
shayneca Question owner
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Zenos said

Are you confident that it is copying all the folders in the profile? I recall a first attempt at moving a profile in Windows failed for me because it had copied only the top layer of folders. I'm not sure quite what I did to get it to work, apart from perseverance. Look into Mail and ImapMail in your copy and see if these contain folders corresponding to your accounts, and folders or files within them corresponding to the lost folders. (Note that account folders within Thunderbird are represented by files in the file system.)

Where do I find these files?

shayneca
shayneca Question owner
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sfhowes said

If a normal copy of the TB folder is failing to include all the folders, it may work better if you copy the folder as an archive, e.g. right-click the TB folder, Add to zip or Add to archive... (depending on your archiving program). Then, copy the archive file to the new computer and unzip or extract it in the correct location. This method has worked here in numerous situations, and besides it makes the smallest possible file to transfer.

Thanks for the reply....can you provide step by step instructions for this...On a scale of 1 -10 on computer knowledge I am about a 5.

Thanks again.