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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Message filters didn't transfer to new computer

  • 1 jibu
  • 1 ana tatizo hili
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by gild

LKaplanCA
LKaplanCA
more options

I have a new computer....well, new for me....running Windows XP. I installed Thunderbird before I realized there was such a thing as a profile manager and that I could migrate all my data. I had no problem creating my account in the new Thunderbird; all my old messages came right up! YAY Mozilla! But my filters aren't there. The folders where the messages were filtering to are there but nothing new is going in.

My question is whether I should still follow your 'migration' procedure to bring over the old profile and whether that will make the filters come over too. And also do I create a new profile on the new machine or somehow merge the profiles?

Thanks Lynn

I have a new computer....well, new for me....running Windows XP. I installed Thunderbird before I realized there was such a thing as a profile manager and that I could migrate all my data. I had no problem creating my account in the new Thunderbird; all my old messages came right up! YAY Mozilla! But my filters aren't there. The folders where the messages were filtering to are there but nothing new is going in. My question is whether I should still follow your 'migration' procedure to bring over the old profile and whether that will make the filters come over too. And also do I create a new profile on the new machine or somehow merge the profiles? Thanks Lynn

All Replies (1)

gild
gild
more options

Are you using IMAP? If you installed Thunderbird then you also created a new profile.

In an IMAP mail system, where the messages are stored on the server, once you login and sync, your messages appear.

With a POP server, the messages are stored on your machine, UNLESS you ticked the box to 'Leave messages on the server'. The POP messages, on your machine, are in the old profile and can be recovered.

If you have not downloaded any POP mail since the re-install of TB then it would probably be easier to use the profile manager to 'point' TB to the old profile, which will recover all your settings, mail, filters, etc.

Or, if you do not need any other settings, mail, etc., you can copy/paste the filter files from the old profile to the new. To be safe, close Thunderbird while your perform this operation. Do it one folder at a time, as the files are named the same but contain different data based on the account they apply to. Copy the file from the old profile into the folder in the new profile that has the same name.

The filters are stored in your profile inside a folder 'Mail - (your providers name)' in a file 'msgFilterRules.dat' and are account specific.

For an IMAP account, the filters should be in the 'IMAPMail' folder.

TB-38.2 Win10-PC