How do I combine Thunderbird setups each accessing different sets of multiple email accounts on 2 old computers into one Thunderbird setup on my new computer?
The laptop accesses my personal email accounts (4 different ones) and my business email accounts (2 different ones). The old desktop accesses my personal email accounts and my wife's emails (2 accounts for her). I now have a new desktop computer and I would like to access all accounts from a single Thunderbird. It would be extremely tedious to start a new Thunderbird and enter all the account information for all of these multiple accounts from a fresh start and re-download all the emails. I know I can backup the Thunderbird profiles separately and restore them to separate Thunderbird instances on two separate users, but it is a pain to switch users each time one of us needs to see a different email account. If the multiple accounts cannot be restored into a singe new Thunderbird instance, is there a way to set up two Thunderbird instances on a single user's desktop and restore one computer's backup into one Thunderbird and the other into the second? Thank you.
Chosen solution
Ok, Tools menu (alt+T) > options > security > passwords > saved passwords and clicking the show passwords button will display that which you have forgotten.
I think the closest you will come to what you want is two profiles....
if you modify a shortcut to have the following arguments following the target
-ProfileManager -no-remote
Thunderbird will run twice on your computer (so it can be open in each profile) and ask which profile each time it starts. If you use the -P [profile Name] argument then Thunderbird will start with the profile indicated (required multiple shortcuts.)
My target looks like this
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Daily\thunderbird.exe" -ProfileManager -no-remoteRead this answer in context 👍 0
All Replies (4)
Setting up the accounts anew in a fresh installation is probably the least tedious part of all this.
Merging your various email stores is ikely to involve moving gigabytes of data. You don't want to do that piecemeal.
I'd start with the most recent of your profiles and install that into the new Thunderbird. Then I'd add the required accounts whilst the old computers are accessible to double-check their settings for the accounts.
Then I'd import the mail stores from the older profiles using https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/
You haven't indicated if any or many of these accounts use IMAP, in which case all you need to do is set up the account on the new computer and the stored data will find its own way in.
While you have all your old profiles marshalled, it would be worth your while to import address book files too, using: https://nic-nac-project.org/~kaosmos/morecols-en.html to retrieve the *.mab files.
Modified by Zenos
Yes, we use IMAP, and yes, there is a large amount of data. Moving it with a flash drive would actually be easier and faster than downloading it all. I did that once before for one of the computers and it tied up my internet for a day and a night (there are a lot of emails). I should now shamefully admit that we have lost the passwords for a couple older personal accounts that still get emails, but Thunderbird remembers them. I could do a fresh setup instead of a backup if I could read the passwords that are kept in the Thunderbird profiles. Any help would be appreciated!
Chosen Solution
Ok, Tools menu (alt+T) > options > security > passwords > saved passwords and clicking the show passwords button will display that which you have forgotten.
I think the closest you will come to what you want is two profiles....
if you modify a shortcut to have the following arguments following the target
-ProfileManager -no-remote
Thunderbird will run twice on your computer (so it can be open in each profile) and ask which profile each time it starts. If you use the -P [profile Name] argument then Thunderbird will start with the profile indicated (required multiple shortcuts.)
My target looks like this
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Daily\thunderbird.exe" -ProfileManager -no-remote
Thanks all! Sorry for the delay in replying. Problem solved.