Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

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

Exactly where are the settings for each email account in Thunderbird held?

  • 3 iimpendulo
  • 1 inayo le ngxaki
  • 1 view
  • Impendulo yokugqibela ngu Zenos

more options

Windows 7. I have IMAP accounts and only want to backup the essentials. Can anyone tell me which file or folder holds the account settings for each email account, so that if I do a restore I won't need to re-enter all the account information? Thanks

Windows 7. I have IMAP accounts and only want to backup the essentials. Can anyone tell me which file or folder holds the account settings for each email account, so that if I do a restore I won't need to re-enter all the account information? Thanks

Isisombulu esikhethiweyo

What will you do with these files? What is your plan for using the data stored in them? The fact that you're asking these questions suggests to me that you haven't really understood what you're asking for.

The answer to your question is prefs.js, but in truth, account settings are a comparatively small part of the data it holds, and most of the rest of the data stored there may be unusable when out of context.

But I really don't know what you can do with that information. Most of us would be more concerned with protecting valuable data such as messages, address books. Account settings are comparatively trivial to rediscover, whilst messages are irreplaceable.

Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 0

All Replies (3)

more options

All your data and settings are in the Profile. The profile is separate from the program so uninstalling Thunderbird does not disturb your data. Backups are always a good idea. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_profile_folder_-_Thunderbird

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb

Ilungisiwe ngu user01229325

more options

Thanks but exactly where in the profile. Which files or folders hold the actual account information for the email accounts (ports, server names, etc)

more options

Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo

What will you do with these files? What is your plan for using the data stored in them? The fact that you're asking these questions suggests to me that you haven't really understood what you're asking for.

The answer to your question is prefs.js, but in truth, account settings are a comparatively small part of the data it holds, and most of the rest of the data stored there may be unusable when out of context.

But I really don't know what you can do with that information. Most of us would be more concerned with protecting valuable data such as messages, address books. Account settings are comparatively trivial to rediscover, whilst messages are irreplaceable.

Ilungisiwe ngu Zenos