Cannot set up an existing account.

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I have an existing Thunderbird account on my Windows 11 PC, working perfectly.
I am now trying to open and access this same account, on another PC with Windows 10.

This is the message that keeps on appearing:
Unable to login in at server. Probably wrong configuration,username or password.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Some more information could help.  POP or IMAP?  What server – gmail, outlook, etc?  Make sure the password is set for oauth.

The easiest way to do it IMO is to copy the whole Thunderbird profile from the computer where it works to the other one.  https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer

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Trying to set up on IMAP, but can I see use my Pop 3 account on Thunderbird?

What server, Gmail if this is what you are meaning here.

The link you sent me, is in fact what I was working on, but I cannot pass Go, as in just opening up my existing account on my Windows 10 PC.

 

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If you have moved the data it should fire up without issue.

Can you run TB?
Can you see the existing mail – that you moved from the W11 PC?
What is the exact message? Post a screenshot – open Snip n Sketch, take a pic, save as PNG, upload here via the “Select file” button.

cheers, Paul

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I don’t believe Anonymous posters can attach files.

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Hi Paul,

Good to reach you, thank you for your reply.

Got as far as “Select file” button, how do I access this please?

.

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PKCano wrote:

I don’t believe Anonymous posters can attach files.

How can I become un-anonymous?

 

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Just create an account, upper right side. It’s free.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Upload the PNG to a public site and put the link in your post.
Alternatively, join the site by clicking on the Register button, top right.

cheers, Paul

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Attached again.

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Attached second batch.

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anonymous wrote:

Some more information could help.  POP or IMAP?  What server – gmail, outlook, etc?  Make sure the password is set for oauth.

The easiest way to do it IMO is to copy the whole Thunderbird profile from the computer where it works to the other one.  https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer

The link you provided was the very one I was working on, to try and open a Thunderbird account on my Windows 10 PC.

Attached are details of my Thunderbird acoont of my Windows 11 PC.

Also want my current Thunderbird looks like, the second screen shot is what it looks like on Windows 7.

I want the Windows 7 version to be copied to my Windows 10 first, as a trial run, then deleting the current Thunderboird in Windows 11.

Once it is clean, only then trying to transfer 7 to 11.

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This might be a possible explanation, if someone can please show some further light on it.

Looking at the present Passwords on my Windows 11 PC, I have three.
Two of which has been put incorrectly (I did not install Thunderbird on this machine).
These are:
imap://imap.gmail.com
smtp://smtp.gmail.com

The part of this Password that is incorrect is soisukan.
In Google it is coming up correct – soisuksan.
But on Thunderbird it is soisksan, missing the u.

Ideally I would prefer to leave the Google account as it is – soisuksan.
Might there be a way to edit/correct this on Thunderbird please?

Finally on Thunderbird Windows 11 PC, an additional third Password is coming up.
This one is on an oauth://accounts, with a long string password, automatic I think, I did not create it.

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Thunderbird has a built-in password manager that will let you update any of your stored passwords.

How to change a stored password in Thunderbird

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A further explanation, Goggle seems to be happy, so I think this glitch is definitely with Thunderbird:

Google Mozilla Thunderbird Email was granted access to your Google account.

How can I contact the technicians directly who are maintaining the Thunderbird website please?

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alejr wrote:

Thunderbird has a built-in password manager that will let you update any of your stored passwords.

How to change a stored password in Thunderbird

Did this, but unfortunately did not make any difference.

Another potential problem/glitch, is that sometimes I am getting two copies of everything?

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Up2you2 wrote:

How can I contact the technicians directly who are maintaining the Thunderbird website please?

You seem to be assuming that TB has its own mail servers? This is not the case.
TB is software that lives on your PC and contacts external mail providers, like Google or Microsoft.
When Google grants access, it is for the local program on your PC.

Up2you2 wrote:

sometimes I am getting two copies of everything?

Where do you get 2 copies?
When is “sometimes”? Do you do anything that makes it happen?
Are you getting the latest mail or old mail?

cheers, Paul

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You seem to be assuming that TB has its own mail servers? This is not the case.
TB is software that lives on your PC and contacts external mail providers, like Google or Microsoft.
When Google grants access, it is for the local program on your PC.

Fair enough, but I am beside myself that I cannot stop this message coming up:
Yellow warning sign: Unable to login in at server. Probably wrong configuration, Question: Can I go ahead with Setup documentation under these circumstances?

sometimes I am getting two copies of everything?
Just happened, I am writing something, later go to save it, two copies but one I think is done automatically.
But there is more, copies are being added to Drafts, but also to All Mail.

I ran two separate posts.
The first on how to back up and transfer Thunderbird.
The second solely trying to set up a Thunderbird account on another PC.

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Unable to login is not an issue that will prevent your local mail being available.
It will stop you sending or receiving mail.

Get the local mail up and running so you can see all your mail.
Then create a log by following this article: https://www.systemcamp.com/how-to-log-connection-errors-in-thunderbird/
Let TB generate the errors and then close TB.
Open the log file and see what is / is not working.

cheers, Paul

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In trying to find a solution, why I cannot currently set up a new account on my Windows 10 PC – error message yellow warning sign: Unable to login in at server. Probably wrong configuration, I thought it may have something to do with the Server Settings.
These are the details of the existing copies of Thunderbird currently working:

Old original SSD now on a new (secondhand) ancient Fujitsu laptop:
Server Type: POP Mail Server
Server Name: pop.gmail.com Port 995 Default 995
Username: Name
Security Settings
Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: Normal password

New installation of Thunderbird (no detailed folders now) Windows 11 PC
Server Type: IMAP Mail Server
Server Name: imap.gmail.com Port 993 Default 993
User Name: Name (same as laptop)@gmail.com
Security Settings
Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: OAuth2

Is there a conflict here, that is prohibiting a new installation of my Windows 10 machine?
I have read this possible solution:
Success!!!! When I switched my outgoing server BACK to comcast.net on port 465 (from 587) , a window popped up ( it hadn’t popped up previously) that asked for my comcast email password. After entering that, everything seems OK now.
Is this safe to do, switching Ports?

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What do you mean by “switching ports”?

cheers, Paul

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This expression – Switching posts, was from a posting on another forum. No idea to be honest.

So when this error message: yellow warning sign: Unable to login in at server, normally comes up, on trying to install Thunderbird to another PC, was is the course of action one should take please?

 

 

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Verification for gmail works by first connecting to the SMTP server (even if there are no outgoing messages) and then connecting to the POP3/IMAP server to retrieve new incoming messages.

So the popup you’re getting most likely means it can’t connect to the outgoing SMTP port.

Here are the “working” settings for gmail on my Thunderbird (Win10 Pro 21H2):

          Server Name: smtp.gmail.com
                 Port: 465
  Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: OAuth2
             Username: (my username)@gmail.com

BTW, POP3 for my incoming gmail works just fine with the same settings as your old config except I had to change the Authentication method from Normal password to OAuth2.

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Yeah, thanks to all here, but I am still at a loss.

I presume that there must be someone who is an expert when it comes down to this error message:  yellow warning sign: Unable to login in at server, normally comes up, on trying to install Thunderbird to another PC.

But to date noboby seems to know who to refer me to?

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My experience with OAuth security has been this:

When you log into your email provider online (from a browser directly on their website), you use the email provider password to access your mail.

But email programs installed on your computer, like Thunderbird (and Outlook, and some other email programs), are considered non-secure. So you have to create a secure 16-character passphrase (not your password) to use when accessing your email through the program. From within Thunderbird, the secure passphrase gives access, from a browser in the website the password gives access.

Somewhere on your email provider’s website, probably under Support, there should be instructions on how to create the secure 16-character passphrase. Then you use that secure passphrase  in Thunderbird instead of your password.

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The “server” that error message refers to is the mail server for the account you’re trying to set up (in your case, gmail.)

Since you “know” the Thunderbird settings on your Win7 PC work, you should start by transferring that profile to your Win11 PC.

• Moving Thunderbird Data to a New Computer

Once you’ve done that, all the messages from your Win7 PC will be on your Win11 PC and Thunderbird “should” work.

Note: since Win11 uses a different encryption key that Win7, the password hash from your Win7 account “might” not match and you’ll get prompted to re-enter it the first time you use Thunderbird.

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alejr wrote:

The “server” that error message refers to is the mail server for the account you’re trying to set up (in your case, gmail.)

Since you “know” the Thunderbird settings on your Win7 PC work, you should start by transferring that profile to your Win11 PC.

• Moving Thunderbird Data to a New Computer

Once you’ve done that, all the messages from your Win7 PC will be on your Win11 PC and Thunderbird “should” work.

Note: since Win11 uses a different encryption key that Win7, the password hash from your Win7 account “might” not match and you’ll get prompted to re-enter it the first time you use Thunderbird.

You write: Since you “know” the Thunderbird settings on your Win7 PC work, you should start by transferring that profile to your Win11 PC.

Fair enough, all well and good, but what happens if there is a problem, then I’m really snookered.

My idea is to get everything up and running on my Windows 10 machine first.
Why, because if there is a problem in transferring this Windows 7 copy to Windows 11, then at least I have the back up on Windows 10.

Sure there will may be not a problem, but I’m not lucky, and I want to get everything working on Windows 10 first.

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I think you’re misunderstanding what transferring a Thunderbird profile does. It does not remove the profile from the old PC, it creates a copy of it on the new PC.

So, a “know working” Thunderbird profile on one of your PC’s can be transferred (i.e. copied) to another PC to get Thunderbird working on it and that profile will still work exactly as before on the original PC.

Once you get that profile working on the new PC, “then” you can deal with setting up OAuth2 for gmail.

BTW, getting Thunderbird OAuth2 to work with gmail is real simple…

1- Change the Authentication method to OAuth2 for your mail servers.

2- Keep port 995 for POP3 but change SMTP to port 465 (587 will not work)

3- Restart Thunderbird.

You’ll get a google login page where you need to enter your gmail credentials and, once you’re logged in, the “passphrase” PKCano wrote about will automatically be generated and stored in your Thunderbird profile (that long OAuth2 string you referred to that’s on your Win11 PC.)

It took less that 5 mins for me to change my POP3 gmail account from “Normal password” to “OAuth2” on my version of Thunderbird and, once I completed the google login page, it’s worked just fine ever since… and yes, I also now show a oauth://accounts.google.com login with a “long” string of characters (104 characters to be exact.)

BTW, despite the fact everyone’s instructions on how to setup OAuth2 with Thunderbird indicate you must use IMAP, that’s no longer true. The bug that prevented POP3 OAuth2 in Thunderbird was fixed quite a few versions back and it now works just fine using POP3 on port 995.

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PKCano wrote:

“Somewhere on your email provider’s website, probably under Support, there should be instructions on how to create the secure 16-character passphrase.

Somewhere on your email provider’s website, probably under Support, there should be instructions on how to create the secure 16-character passphrase”.

Now this sounds good, thanks, and also Gmail themselves maybe able to throw some more light on the anomally.

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There is also a setting under G-Mail\Settings\All settings with information for setting up your e-mail client for POP3 or IMAP.

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PKCano wrote:

There is also a setting under G-Mail\Settings\All settings with information for setting up your e-mail client for POP3 or IMAP.

Thanks for this, gone through it and everything seems to comply.

Posted on the Google community, hopefully somebody will get back to me.

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Mozilla Thunderbird Email was granted access to your Google Account.

So why does this message keep on appearing please:

Yellow warning sign: Unable to login in at server, normally comes up, on trying to install Thunderbird to another PC.

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You need to provide the email logs as described in #2433989 above. Then we will know where your issue lies.

cheers, Paul

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Up2you2 wrote:

Mozilla Thunderbird Email was granted access to your Google Account.

So why does this message keep on appearing please:

Yellow warning sign: Unable to login in at server, normally comes up, on trying to install Thunderbird to another PC.

The fact you see “Mozilla Thunderbird Email was granted access to your Google Account” when logged into your gmail account via a browser is a complete red herring! It has absolutely nothing to do with the error you’re getting.

As I pointed out before, the “server” that error message refers to is the mail server for the gmail account you’re trying to set up and it indicates the Thunderbird S/W on your PC is not configured correctly to communicate with the gmail servers!

The only fix for this is to properly configure the mail servers (both incoming and outgoing) in Thunderbird.

You indicated in a previous post that you have a “working” gmail account setup in Thunderbird installed on a different PC.

Since you don’t want to transfer the “working” profile on that PC to the Thunderbird installed on your Win10 machine (which would be the simplest solution) your other option is to exactly duplicate all the Thunderbird settings being used for the “working” profile onto your Win10 machine.

If you’re not willing to do either of these, you’ll never get rid of that message!

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Okay let’s see if I can finally get a handle on this, please correct me where I am wrong.

“Server” means Google Gmail account
Thunderbird S/W means ?
Your PC means the account I am trying to set up on my Windows 10 PC?

Have a “working” Gmail account setup in Thunderbird installed on a different PC, yes my Windows 11 PC.
Also have a working Thunderbird account on my Windows 7 laptop.

In trying to set up my Thunderbird re-registration on my Windows 10 PC, this to date has proved impossible.
I have genuinely tried, multiple times, to transfer the “working” profile on the Windows 11 PC, to the Thunderbird installed on my Windows 10 PC.

No idea why it doesn’t work, I just don’t seem to pass Go on it.
The completion of the registration goes smoothly, but then having inserted my Google username, which it it seems to initially accept, is then rejected with this message: Unable to login in at server. Probably wrong configuration, username or password.

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Server means the gmail servers (i.e. pop.gmail.com, imap.gmail.com, smtp.gmail.com) not your gmail account.

S/W is the abbreviation for SoftWare (FYI… H/W is the abbreviation for HardWare.)

Ok, at this point here’s what I’d suggest.

Verify you can still access gmail from you Win7 PC (the one not using OAuth2.)

Completley remove the Thunderbird profile on your Win10 PC and verify the Thunderbird password manager no longer shows any account info.

Reboot the Win10 PC.

Create a new Thunderbird profile on the Win10 PC using the “exact same” gmail settings from your Win7 PC (i.e. the one not using OAuth2.)

Verify you can now access gmail from your Win10 PC.

If that works, then you can proceed with trying to set up OAuth2 on the Win10 PC using the instructions from my 2434722 post.

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Thank you.

Q:Verify you can still access gmail from you Win7 PC (the one not using OAuth2.)
A:Sent and receive no problems at all.

Q:Completley remove the Thunderbird profile on your Win10 PC and verify the Thunderbird password manager no longer shows any account info.
A:This is the point I have been trying to make, I have not got this far.
No profile, no logging in, no re-registration on Win 10 PC.

In trying to set up my Thunderbird re-registration on my Windows 10 PC, this to date has proved  impossible.
The completion of the registration goes smoothly, but then having inserted my Google username, which it it seems to initially accept, is then rejected with this message: Unable to login in at server. Probably wrong configuration, username or password.

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Your previous posts, including the one above, indicate you have Thunderbird installed on your Win10 PC and had created a gmail profile for it but, when you tried to verify that profile using OAuth2, it was failing.

All the answers/suggestions provided since your original post were based on that being true.

So lets clarify things one step at a time…

1- Is Thunderbird actually installed on your Win10 PC, yes or no?

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1- Is Thunderbird actually installed on your Win10 PC, yes or no?

No.

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Your Thunderbird profile (if Thunderbird is on your PC) is in two places:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles
It is in a folder that is an “alpha-numeric string.default”

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Thunderbird\Profiles
It is in a folder that is an “alpha-numeric string.default”

The one under Roaming contains Mail, Bookmarks,extensions, password, and many settings. Both are used by the Thunderbird software (eMail client).
AppData is a hidden folder, you have to show hidden folders to see it.

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Up2you2 wrote:

1- Is Thunderbird actually installed on your Win10 PC, yes or no?

No.

Ok, if Thunderbird isn’t installed on your Win10 PC, this whole thread about how to setup OAuth2 for a Thunderbird account is meaningless.

So, exactly what are you doing that causes the error message you’re getting?

BTW, we’ll need specific step-by-step details, i.e…

error occurs on ??? PC in ??? S/W while trying to ???

error occurs on ??? PC in ??? S/W after clicking ??? during ???

etc.

etc.

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Okay this is the process that I am using, on trying to install Thunderbird on to my Windows 10 PC.

First off run Disk Cleaner, and then CCleaner (twice)

Next disable Comodo Firewall and switch off Avast anti virus.

Open Thunderbird Set UpYour Existing Address.

Full Name: Done
Email Address; Done

Click continue

Green box, ticked Configuration found in Mozilla ISP database

Available configurations:

IMAP already high lighted

Incoming: imap.gmail,com SSL/TLS

 Outgoing smtp.gmail.com SSL/TLS

Username: name@gmail.com

Pop3 not highlighted

Click Done

Google Authentification Page comes up

Enter password

Mozilla Thunderbird Email wants to access your Google account

Clicked Allow Green ticked box – Checking password

Below it Yellow box with black exclamation

Unable tolog in at server, Probably wrong configuration, username or password

Click Done

Same password request for Google comes up

1 user thanked author for this post.

Alex5723

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Login to https://myaccount.google.com/security with your Gmail account and password.
Select Apps with access to your account -Third-party apps with account access and see if Thunderbird is on the list.

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Up2you2 wrote:

Open Thunderbird Set UpYour Existing Address.

So, contrary to what you posted previously, Thunderbird IS installed on your Win10 PC.

That takes us back to my request in my 2435059 post to remove the exiting gmail Thunderbird profile (Removing a profile)

Once you’ve done that and rebooted, “manually” create a new gmail profile.

Open Thunderbird Set UpYour Existing Address and enter all the appropriate info but click “Configure manually” instead of continue.

Use the same settings for the incoming and outgoing servers as the gmail profile on your Win7 PC (or much easier, simply transfer that profile to your Win10 PC.)

Verify the above profile works.

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Alex5723 wrote:

Login to https://myaccount.google.com/security with your Gmail account and password.
Select Apps with access to your account -Third-party apps with account access and see if Thunderbird is on the list.

Thank you.

First up this came up:

Remove your account from Asus ZenFone 5

Asus ZenFone 5

Inactive for 125 days

You haven’t used Google on Asus ZenFone 5 in 125 days. Remove this device so that it no longer has access to your account.

– Deleted

Third-party apps with account accessMozilla Thunderbird Email
Has access to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts.

Three devices currently active.

Then I went to my Windows 10 PC, to see following this deletion, if this would make the difference.

Unfortunately it did not – say message.

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alejr wrote:

Use the same settings for the incoming and outgoing servers as the gmail profile on your Win7 PC

So, contrary to what you posted previously, Thunderbird IS installed on your Win10 PC.

Incorrect, my Thunderbird 10 copy is not installed.
However it is installed on my Windows 11 PC, and Windows 7 laptop.
Now we maybe having/using different meanings of the definition of installment.

I say this as you have attached an image of Set Up Your Existing Account.
Now this is what I have been working on all the time, in fact the normal and manual versions. This is what I have not installed, configured, completed.
You write: When I click on Configure manually, Use the same settings for the incoming and outgoing servers as the gmail profile on your <span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>Win7</span> PC.
Cannot.

Just tried again.
The Window 7 settings are different:
Server settings
Server type: POP Mail Server
Server Name: pop.gmail.com
User Name: Name
Port: 995
Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: Normal Password

Outgoing SMTP Server
Description: Gmail
Server Name: smtp.gmail.com
Port: 465
Connection secirity: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: Normal Passord
Tried every different type of combination, having failed with the exact copy on Re-test each attempt.
Every went to the degree of leaving as much as I could blank, on Auto detect.

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You don’t seem to comprehend what installed actually means.

Being unable to setup an “active” Thunderbird profile on your PC doesn’t mean Thunderbird’s not installed on it anymore than not being able to use a mouse because the battery’s dead means you don’t have a mouse.

Anyway…

If the settings from your Win7 PC don’t work on the Win10 PC, then something on that PC is preventing Thunderbird from connecting to the gmail servers (Firewall, Anti-virus, another mail program, etc., etc.)

Until you figure out what that is and fix it, you’ll never get Thunderbird to work on that PC.

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Just been informed of the following, be grateful if there are those that can confirm this please:

A direct copy/image of my current Windows 7 Thunderbird, which is held in a POP3 account, on a laptop, cannot be directly transferred to a new copy of Thunderbird, installed on my Windows 11 PC.
Not possible, can’t be done.
Correct or not?

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There is no such thing as a “POP3 account”. POP3 is a method of connecting to your mail server – Google in this case.

Yes, you can move / copy your email and settings from a W7 PC to any other Windows PC. We have told you this before.

Can you post a screenshot of the unable to login message?
Run Snip n Sketch, take a screenshot, use the pen to cross out any real names. Save the capture as a PNG. Upload the PNG to your post by clicking on the Select File button, just above Submit.

cheers, Paul

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Attached.

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That is not the error message. Did you attach the wrong capture?

cheers, Paul

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Not an error message as such, rather a statement that somebody was making. And I wanted to run it by you, so you could verify it please.

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You are too hung up on things you think we want. Please reply to our direct questions and we will be able to solve this for you.

cheers, Paul

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That does not sound right at all.  There is one thing that is true – an email server (not your computer) when accessed via POP3 only delivers mail from an inbox, never from other folders.  A server accessed by IMAP can deliver mail from many folders, and can also have folders and emails created on the server and uploaded.  So, if you have OLD emails, stored on a computer and not currently on the server.  And if you use POP3 on both computers – the only way to copy them is by copying the files directly from one computer to the other by network or removable drive.  The email server cannot be an intermediary.

If both computers were accessing via IMAP, you would have the option of uploading to and downloading from the server.  But this does NOT seem to apply to your case.

There are two separate goals though.  One is access to current email and the ability to use the server, and the other is reading of old mail in a sorted folder structure.

Where is old mail sorted into folders?  If you log in via gmail webmail is all old mail there, sorted into folders.  Or, my guess is, do the folders (and old mail) only exist on your Windows 7 computer.

The other issue is login failure.  If you know the password that lets you go to gmail.com on any browser, and you (on a computer stripped and clean of all Thunderbird profiles) in Thunderbird current version use the new account wizard and enter your password, you should be able to access new emails and should not get errors.

To use the server for new mail, I agree with the steps in #2435346 .  But even if this worked, then you would still want to copy mail from the old profile, so I guess you would be still be out of luck.

As far as I know, carefully following https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer should work.  Can you get a professional to repeat those steps, or repeat them yourself?  Even if it is unable to login, you should at least be able to see your old mail, which might be some reassurance.

The most important thing IMO is to have an external removable drive and make a complete backup image of your Windows 7 computer.  Then in the future if all else fails a professional should be able to recover your old mail.

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Whoa a lot to digest here, but here goes.

First of all thank you for going to these lengths in your reply.

My Windows 7 laptop Thunderbird version is 91.6.0 (32-bit).

Where is old mail sorted into folders?  If you log in via gmail webmail is all old mail there, sorted into folders.
Interesting question this, and you are right, all my emails in all their corresponding folders are not their.
So this as you say proves, that my emails in their nominated folders, are solely on my Windows 7 laptop.

From what you are saying here, if I am to understand correctly, that my Windows 7 POP3, cannot be transferred to a Windows 11 IMAP.
Is there any way to convert my Windows 7 POP3 to IMAP, and then having succeeded in doing this, would that then make it easier to transfer to Window 11 IMAP Thunderbird?

I’m really surprised that such a case like this, has not come up before, with a proven remedy and solution.

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As has been pointed out previously, your can transfer a Thunderbird profile (doesn’t matter whether it’s POP3 or IMAP) from one PC to another as long as Thunderbird is installed on both of them.

And yes, you can convert your Win7 account from POP3 to IMAP.

Simply change the incoming mail server setting from pop.gmail.com on port 995 to imap.gmail.com on port 993 and leave everything else “as is” (i.e. don’t change anything except the incoming mail server setting.)

However, as was pointed out above, because the account was originally setup to use POP3, those messages/folders are only located on your Win7 PC . Changing the account from POP3 to IMAP will not restore them to the gmail server and make them visible on your Win11 PC.

The only way to get them onto your Win11 PC is to copy them over using the Thunderbird transfer option that’s been posted numerous times before.

BTW, you don’t have to transfer the “whole” Thunderbird profile from one PC to another. You can choose to transfer only the messages/folders without the actual account settings or even choose to transfer only certain messages/folders if you don’t want them all on the other PC.

Up2you2 wrote:

I’m really surprised that such a case like this, has not come up before, with a proven remedy and solution.

Needing to transfer existing Thunderbird profiles to new PC’s has been around for a long time and the proven solution is to use the Thunderbird transfer option.

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Thank you.
Okay got it, my Thunderbird folders and files are solely on my Windows 7 laptop.

So I am now in the process of trying to transfer this data on my Window 7 laptop, to my Windows 11 PC.

You are referring to this link: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer
Thankfully I have also found a video on it as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywJ6eQwhb78

3. Locate the “Profile Folder” entry, then click <span data-for=”win”>Open Folder</span>.
Your Thunderbird profile folder will open in <span data-for=”win”>Windows Explorer</span>.

Open folder (Local drive)
No Thunderbird folder as such, just Mail.
Now in Local folders I can see my files.
But why can I not see this Thunderbird folder please?

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Up2you2 wrote:

But why can I not see this Thunderbird folder

What you are seeing is the TB folders. It should look a bit like this screenshot.

cheers, Paul

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Indeed yes.

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FYI, the “Mail” folder is where POP3 messages/folders get stored, the “ImapMail” folder is where the IMAP messages/folders get stored.

Since your Win7 Thunderbird profile was setup as POP3, you really only need to copy the Mail folder from the Win7 PC to the Win11 PC to get them into Thunderbird on that PC.

Note: In order for the messages/folders to actually show up in Thunderbird on your Win11 PC, you must copy the Mail folder to the same location on that PC (i.e. the folder layout should be similar to what was post by Paul T.)

---

BTW, if you look in the Mail folder on your Win7 PC, you should find it contains a series of folders organized the same way as this image you posted of your Win7 mail setup.

Note: the actual messages themselves will not show as they’re stored in a series of files in those folders named inbox, drafts, sent, Helen, etc., etc. with a corresponding second file of the same name that ends in .msf like this.

inbox
inbox.msf
drafts
drafts.msf
sent
sent.msf
…etc., etc.

 

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Thank you.

Q:Since your Win7 Thunderbird profile was setup as POP3, you really only need to copy the Mail folder from the Win7 PC to the Win11 PC to get them into Thunderbird on that PC.
A:Good.

<strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”><span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-underline”>Q:Note:</span> In order for the messages/folders to actually show up in Thunderbird on your Win11 PC, you must copy the Mail folder to the <span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>same</span> location on that PC (i.e. the folder layout should be similar to what was post by Paul T.)
A: The Windows 7 folder that I am proposing to copy is just called Mail.
On clicking it it comes up as Size 8.32 GB Folders: Local Folders, mail.cslox.com,pop3csloxinfo.com ….
Now on Windows 11 I have three profiles:

6lbt1i62.default-release 4/2/2022
8b2b71ym.default 3/1/2022
uirk3k5m.default-release 4/2/2022 ImapMail 22.7 GB and Mail 1.04 MB

One other point I want to raise now, since I installed Thunderbird on my Windows 11 PC, several folders have already been created.
I do not wish to loose what I have recently created, so how do I make sure they won’t be over written and lost please?

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I came across this post a while ago, and now I think it is worth mentioning, as we are getting pretty close to transferring my Thunderbird data.
As you can imagine I initially thought it was very technical, but I am now getting up to speed.
Please let me know what your views on it are.

For Thunderbird, the first thing is to bring up the ‘new’  and ‘old’ Thunderbird folders ‘side by side’ on your screen.  In particular, bring up C:/users/<your ID>/apdata/roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles and the same folder on the ‘old’ Win 7 C: drive.  Be specifically aware of the <xxxxxxx>.default-release folder name.  If you installed Thunderbird ‘fresh’ in Win 10, the <xxxxxxxxxxx> part of the folder name will be different.  THAT is your problem!  Simply copying the one <xxxxxxxxxx>.default-release folder from the old drive to the new will bring everything ‘over’, but is 99% of the fix.  Note that there’s hundreds, if not thousands of files in there.  You should now have two <xxxxxx> profile folders.  I’m guessing that somewhere, buried in each, is references to the <xxxxxxxxx>.  So merely copying the full contents of one profile folder to the old to the new won’t fully work.

The ‘trick’ is to make Thunderbird look at your ‘old’ profile folder (now on the C: drive) rather than the ‘new’ one when it starts up.  ‘Back up’ one directory level to the Thunderbird folder.  There’s a profiles.ini file that contains the full name of the profile, eg, <xxxxxxxxxx>.default-release that Thunderbird uses to know what to use.  There’s one or more references to profiles/<xxxxxxxxx>.default-release in there. I had 3 in mine.  Open the file with Notepad and edit and save the <xxxxxxxx> with the new (win 7 version) folder name.  That SHOULD do it and get everything back into their proper folders.

However…one of the Thunderbird options is to always synchronize with your email on the ISP server.  That way, using Firefox from anywhere, you can log on to your ISP and read/write/delete email as you choose.  I’m not sure whether the ‘new’ ‘super folder’ Win 10 ISP version was modified to the 4 folder names you indicated.  It may have.  Hopefully – and that’s hopefully – getting the folders back the way they should be by the prior procedure will get the ISP server to ‘match it’.

The same procedure should work with Firefox as well, but using: C:/users/<your ID>/apdata/roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles folder instead.

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Up2you2 wrote:

Now on Windows 11 I have three profiles

Stop!

You have over 20GB of data in those profiles so you do not want to lose any of that.

Can you make a full backup to an external USB hard disk? This is always the starting point before doing any major surgery on your PC.

Next we need to work out where the 20GB of data came from if your email is not working.
Did you copy it from the other PC earlier?
Did mail work at some time?
Can you see any mail when you fire up Thunderbird?

cheers, Paul

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Q: Can you make a full backup to an external USB hard disk?
A: What do you recommend, I only have a USB memory stick?

Q: Next we need to work out where the 20GB of data came from if your email is not working.
A: My emails are working, both on Windows 7 and Windows 11.
The 20 GB of data came from the SSD of my Windows 7 laptop (originally from this same SSD that was on my Windows 7 PC).

Q: Did you copy it from the other PC earlier?
A: No this is the original SSD from my Windows 7 PC, this SSD has now been transferred now into a second hand Windows 7 laptop.
Then this SSD was removed from the laptop, and was then inserted into my Windows 11 PC, and a copy of Thunderbird was transferred into the new copy of Thunderbird on my Windows 11 PC.

Q: Did mail work at some time?
A: The mail works all the time, but one problem, there seems to be two copies of all emails (as I think this transfer was done twice).
Now when I say it works it does work, but what was missing here, was when the data was transferred, it was NOT transferred into all of the respective folders I have on my Windows 7 version.
Instead it looks like this:

Inbox (23671)
Sent (1022)
All Mail (23672)
Important (8997)

Whereas on my Windows 7 laptop, countless folders and sub folders

Q: Can you see any mail when you fire up Thunderbird?
Thunderbird is presently working on both my Windows 7 laptop, and my Windows 11 PC.

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Your problem with the missing folders is because your Thunderbird profile on the Win7 PC is setup as POP3 (i.e. all the messages/folders are stored on the local PC) and your Thunderbird profile on the Win11 PC is setup as IMAP (i.e. all the messages/folders are stored on the remote mail server)

Since the IMAP profile didn’t have any of the POP3 profile folders setup on the mail server, all the messages you transferred over where placed in their “default” locations.

As for the duplicate messages, as you suspected, that would be due to your attempting the transfer twice.

That would also explain why you now have 3 different Thunderbird profiles on the Win11 PC (the original profile, a 2nd profile created by your first transfer attempt and a 3rd profile created by your most recent transfer attempt.)

I’d suggest using Thunderbird’s Profile Manger to start Thunderbird using each of those extra profiles (one at a time) and, after verifying they’re actually the same (i.e. contain the same messages in the same folder layout), delete one of them so you only have one extra profile.

As for making a full back, a USB thumb drive will work just fine as long as it’s large enough to hold the backup file (i.e. a backup of my own 82.8 GB Win10 Pro is only 33.1 GB and easily fits on a 64 GB thumb drive.) Of course YMMV depending on exactly how much room your O/S takes up on the drive.

As for the whole 20 GB of email data seeming like a lot…

If you keep all your emails, it’s not (i.e. my Uncle has kept ever single email he’s ever received since 1995 and his Outlook mail files current take up over 80 GB of space on his SSD.)

I keep telling him he should make a backup of his Outlook files and prune them down to the most recent (i.e. last 6-8 months), but he insist it would take way more time than he can spare to do that!

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Thank you.

Your summary is spot on.
I am going to look into the situation of this duplicate profile.
The original, should that be kept however?
Before I do I am going to three backups:
System restore
Hekasoft Backup
Macrium Reflect

Yes my 20GB of email data, I do ancestry, so that involves a lot of correspondence.
But I do try to delete what is not necessary.
I will get back to you, on how we might be able to proceed further.

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Three different profiles – attached:

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Backup
https://www.askwoody.com/2021/tasks-for-the-weekend-february-13-2021-windows-backup/

cheers, Paul

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The profiles shown in your last 2 screen shots don’t appear to be proper Thunderbird profiles.

The one labeled 8b2b71ym.default is most definitely not a complete profile (it only contains one file when there should be a lot more like in the other two.)

The one labeled 6lbt1j62.default-release has a lot of the expected files but there’s no ImapMail and Mail folders as there would be for a working e-mail profile.

To verify which one is your actual default profile, goto Help > Troubleshooting Information > scroll to the bottom and select about:profiles

You’ll get a screen that looks like this (note: parts of the profile “directory” were deliberately obscured.)

The alphanumeric part just in front of .default in the directory listings will be your default profile (which I suspect will be ujrk3k5m)

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Attached – About Profiles:

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As I expected, ujrk3k5m.default-release-1 is your default profile (notice how the “Default Profile” value shows yes where the other two show no and it states immediately above it “This is the profile in use and cannot be deleted.“)

So do the same on your Win7 PC and post an image of the “About Profiles” results from it.

BTW, you indicated Thunderbird on your Win7 PC was working (i.e. send/receive works) so here’s a question before we proceed with getting everything from the Win 7 PC working the same on your Win11 PC.

Is Thunderbird on your Win7 PC up-to-date with Thunderbird on your Win11 PC?

Note: I’m not referring to all the messages being in the proper folders, what I mean is… you received a message this morning on the Win11 PC and the Win7 PC got the same message.

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Thank you.
First off the screen shots of the Windows 7 Profiles, there was no Roaming in this process:
003 and 004 are of svcy31pp.default
004 and 055 are of 9jxdgy7g.default

Q: Is Thunderbird on your Win7 PC up-to-date with Thunderbird on your Win11 PC?
A: Correct, everything that is up and downloading on Windows 11, is correspondingly being done on Windows 7.

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What I actually asked for was a screen shot of the “About Profiles” results for your Win7 PC (i.e. it’ll look like the Attached – About Profiles: image you posted from your Win11 PC.)

The fact the Thunderbird messages on both PC’s are in sync will make transferring (i.e. copying) the Win7 profile to your Win11 PC much easier.

If you follow the instructions you’ll be given precisely, the Win7 profile should work on your Win11 PC and display everything exactly the same as it is on your Win7 PC.

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Thank you

Q:What I actually asked for was a screen shot of the “About Profiles” results for your Win7 PC (i.e. it’ll look like the Attached – About Profiles: image you posted from your Win11 PC.)
A: Can’t find this in Windows 7, the best that I have been able to come up with are the attached screen shots 005 and 006.
Neither of these take me anywhere.

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In TB.
Help > More Troubleshooting Information
Look for Profiles on the left near the bottom of the screen.
Click on about:profiles.

cheers, Paul

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Got it – attached.

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OK, here’s the instructions to transfer (i.e. copy) the Win7 Thunderbird profiles to your Win11 PC.

Notes:

Ensure you have a full backup of your Win11 PC before starting the following instructions.

DO NOT open Thunderbird on either PC until instructed to do so.

Be sure to follow the below instructions exactly.

PART 1

1- On your Win11 PC “delete” the contents of both of these Thunderbird folders (don’t delete the actual Thunderbird folders themselves, just everything inside them)

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

2- You should now have 2 “empty” Thunderbird folders on the Win11 PC

one in C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local
one in C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming

PART 2

3- Using a thumb drive, copy the following folder from your Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird

4- You should now have a folder called “Thunderbird” on the thumb drive with the contents of the Local\Thunderbird folder on your Win7 PC.

5- Move the thumb drive to your Win11 PC and copy the contents of the Thunderbird folder into

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird

6- The Local\Thunderbird folder on your Win11 PC should now have the same contents as the Local\Thunderbird folder on your Win7 PC.

7- Delete the Thunderbird folder on the thumb drive and move it back to your Win7 PC.

PART 3

8- Copy the following folder from your Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

9- You should now have a folder called “Thunderbird” on the thumb drive with the contents of the Roaming\Thunderbird folder on your Win7 PC.

10- Move the thumb drive to your Win11 PC and copy the contents of the Thunderbird folder into

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

11- The Roaming\Thunderbird folder on your Win11 PC should now have the same contents as the Roaming\Thunderbird folder on your Win7 PC.

12- Delete the Thunderbird folder on the thumb drive.

PART 4

13- Open Thunderbird on your Win11 PC and verify it works and displays the same messages/folders as Thunderbird your Win7 PC.

If this didn’t work, let us know including a screen shot of any error message.

 

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This looks all very good, thank you, you have gone to a lot of trouble here – much appreciated.
I’m going to carry this out in the morning, fresh, so hopefully I don’t make any mistakes.

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Excuse me for being nervous, but please confirm the following:

Part 1. Local three profiles – delete all, Roaming five entries

3- Using a thumb drive, copy the following folder from your Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>Local</span>\Thunderbird

Does not exist, the best I can find is C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Thunderbird\Profiles

Then there is a selection of two – see attached

I am going to stop now, I have done nothing in real time, but wait for your advise please?

 

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The instructions I provided were based on the following about:profile screen shots you provided of your Thunderbird profiles.

This one from your Win11 PC showing the default profile is located in the following 2 folders

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

And this one from your Win7 PC showing the default profile is located in the following 2 folders

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

If those screen shot aren’t the correct ones for those PC’s then the instructions I provided aren’t going to work!

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Part 1. Local three profiles – delete all, Roaming five entries delete all

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Further screen shots of what you are potentially asking me to copy From Windows 7 Thunderbird:

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Up2you2 wrote:

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird Does not exist

This folder is shown on your screenshot in post #2436996 above.
All of your subsequent shots show C:\Users\Administrator, which you do not want.

cheers, Paul

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Okay, first of all the about:profiles – screen shot attached.

Profile: default
On Root Directory svcy31pp.default it can take me through to a Folder named Mail 8.33 GB
Local Directory svcy31pp.default nothing looks familiar or relevant

Profile:Restored
Again nothing relevant here

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alejr wrote:

The instructions I provided were based on the following about:profile screen shots you provided of your Thunderbird profiles.

This one from your Win11 PC showing the default profile is located in the following 2 folders

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

And this one from your Win7 PC showing the default profile is located in the following 2 folders

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

If those screen shot aren’t the correct ones for those PC’s then the instructions I provided aren’t going to work!

Sorry about all of this, but as you may have gathered, I’m a bit of a layman in all of this.

However as everything strikes me as being logical in the computer world., I’m sure there must be some kind of explanation to this anomaly.

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Ok, lets see if we can clarify things…

Start Thunderbird on your Win7 PC and goto Help > Troubleshooting Information > scroll to the bottom and select about:profiles

Click the “Open Folder” button for the default profile as shown in this image.

Post a screen shot of the results.

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Here is the four shot sequence of this profile:

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Those screen shots show that

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

does in fact exist on your Win7 PC!

Now, start Thunderbird on your Win7 PC and goto Help > Troubleshooting Information > scroll to the bottom and select about:profiles

This time click the “Open Folder” button for the 2nd folder that’s part of the default profile as shown in this image.

And post a screen shot of that results.

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@alejr
Just an FYI
The “\” have been missing from the path in your Replies.
This is a known problem on AskWoody.
If you Submit the post, wait till it’s posted, then go back and edit in the “\” then resubmit, they will (usually) remain. 🙂

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Actually, if you change the type from the default of Paragraph to Preformatted, they’ll always appear.

Paragraph shows like this (they’re missing)

C:UsersDavidAppDataRoamingThunderbird

Preformatted shows like this (they appear)

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

One catch, you can’t change the type from Paragraph to Preformatted for only “part” of a line of text.

1 user thanked author for this post.

PKCano

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Here they are:

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Those screen shots show that

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird

Also exists on your Win7 PC!

So, the instructions I provided will work if you follow them.

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C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
Does not exist, the best I can find is C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Thunderbird\Profiles, do you want me to use this one?

Excuse me for being nervous, but please confirm the following:

Part 1. Local three profiles – delete all, Roaming five entries – delete all.

 

 

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Excuse me for being nervous, but please confirm the following:

Part 1. Local three profiles – delete all, Roaming five entries – delete all.

My Part 1 instructions did not tell you to do anything like that! As I stated at the beginning of those instructions.

Be sure to follow the below instructions exactly.

Part 1 instructed you to DELETE the contents of 2 specific folders on your Win11 PC but not the actual folders themselves and that’s exactly what you need to do!

 

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Your screen shots show they DO exist.

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No problem, so you do what me to go about:profiles.
Got it.
I will try it in the morning again, sorry too late, don’t want to make mistakes.
Thank you.

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You will not be able to do what needs to be done if Thunderbird is running!

You need to use Windows Explorer and look for the AppData\Local and AppData\Roaming folders in “David” not “Administrator” on your Win7 PC

Then follow the instructions I provided.

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IMPORTANT

Taking a look at the Windows Explorer screen shots you’ve previously posted of your Win7 and Win11 PCs I suddenly realized you’re not seeing the AppData folders on either one.

That tells me you never actually followed the advice PKCano posted quite a ways back.

PKCano wrote:

AppData is a hidden folder, you have to show hidden folders to see it.

So, here’s how to “turn on” the display of the AppData folders on your Win7 PC.

Open Windows Explorer, click Organize at the top left, scroll down and select the Folder and search options item.

Click the View tab.

Scroll down to the Hidden files and folders section, select the Show hidden file, folder, and drives option, then click the OK button.

You should now be able to see the following folders on the Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

---

And here’s how to “turn on” the display of the AppData folders on your Win11 PC.

Open Windows Explorer, click View at the top right, scroll down to Show, scroll down to Hidden items and click it (i.e. a check mark will appear to it’s left)

You should now be able to see the following folders on the Win11 PC

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

From this point, simply follow my instructions.

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alejr wrote:

You should now be able to see the following folders on the Win7 PC C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

Thank you.

You should now be able to see the following folders on the Win7 PC

C:\Users\<span class="gdbbx-bbcode-font-color"><strong class="gdbbx-bbcode-bold">David</span>\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\<span class="gdbbx-bbcode-font-color"><strong class="gdbbx-bbcode-bold">David</span>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

See attached screen shots.

For Windows 11, yes the box beside Hidden Files on the lft hand side is ticked.

 

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<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”><span style=”color: #000000;”>Potential problem.</span></span></span>

<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>PART 2</span>

3- Using a thumb drive, copy the following folder from your Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>Local</span>\Thunderbird

I thought it would be prudent, excuse me, to look at the size of this folder.

It seems small to me, so I am sending you four screen shots of the detail of it.

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I have been thinking of just where these Window 7 POP3 emails are located.
One possibility if you could consider please is:

Profile: default
On Root Directory svcy31pp.default it can take me through to a Folder named Mail 8.33 GB.

Attach screen shot.

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Don’t overthink this, you’ll only confuse things even more than they already are and delay the process of getting things working on your Win11 PC.

Simply follow the instructions I provided, exactly as written, and Thunderbird on your Win11 PC should work and have the same messages/folder layout as your Win7 PC.

If you’re not willing to do that, then you’ll never get Thunderbird on your Win11 PC to match what you have on your Win7 PC!

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It didn’t work, but I think it was me.

Going to try again.

Three screen shots attached.

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On my second attempt, I inadvertantly deletedthe complete Thunderbird entries, instead of their contents.

Tried a System Restore but it did not return the Thunderbird file on Local.

I have a further back up on using Macrium Reflect Free. Not having done a restore before, I’m letting you know this before I go any further.

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If you deleted the Thunderbird folders on the Win11 PC, simply copy the entire Thunderbird folder from the Win7 PC to the appropriate location on the Win11 PC.

From Local on Win7 PC to Local on Win11 PC
From Roaming on Win7 PC to Roaming on Win11 PC

BTW, one of your screen shots indicates you tried to copy the contents of the Win7 PC over the existing contents on the Win11 PC.

For the process to work properly both of these folders on your Win11 PC must be completely empty (i.e. Part 1 of my instructions.)

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

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Thank you, going to try this now.

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On Slim Computer part of Thunderbird is still showing up – see attached.

Should I uninstall this entry please?

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Have no idea what that is and it’s not relevant to what we’re trying to do.

Put in very simple terms, we need to duplicate the Thunderbird folders on your Win7 PC onto your Win11 PC.

That means the contents of these two folders on your Win11 PC

C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

must exactly match the contents of these two folders on your Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Thunderbird
C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

exactly match means no “extra” files or sub-folders in the “Thunderbird” folders on your Win11 PC.

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Entry is Mozilla Thunderbird.

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<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>PART 3</span>

8- Copy the following folder from your Win7 PC

C:\Users\David\AppData\<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-color”><strong class=”gdbbx-bbcode-bold”>Roaming</span>\Thunderbird

Six hours and thirty minutes remaining – stay tuned.

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Yes, yes, yes got a result – see attached.

Thank you so much, for your time, patience and tollerance of me.

The hour glass is still spinning, I will not close this file untill I hear back from you.

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I “assume” that screen shot is from your Win11 PC showing it’s now a duplicate of the Thunderbird account on your Win7 PC and that you’ve verified that send/receive actually works?

If so, that means your primary goal has been achieved!

The final step is to ensure you have OAuth2 enabled for the gmail account on the Win11 PC so…

Note: you’ve done this before so it should be easy to complete the following steps.

Go to the settings for your incoming mail server (pop.gmail.com) and your outgoing mail server (smtp.gmail.com) and check the “Authentication method” for each one.

If they’re both set for OAuth2, you’re done!

If they’re not both set for OAuth2, change them to OAuth2 (note, DO NOT change any of the other settings!)

Restart Thunderbird, complete the gmail account login/allow access process you’ve been thru before, verify send/receive still works, and you’re done!

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Q: I “assume” that screen shot is from your Win11 PC showing it’s now a duplicate of the Thunderbird account on your Win7 PC and that you’ve verified that send/receive actually works?
A: Correct

Q: Go to the settings for your incoming mail server (pop.gmail.com) and your outgoing mail server (smtp.gmail.com) and check the “Authentication method” for each one.
If they’re both set for OAuth2, you’re done!
A: All present and correct.

Well you have no idea how all of this feels.
To begin with it felt as if I had lost my right arm, then to get it back again with the laptop copy, but I could still not use it on my PC.
What you have done here is incredible in my book, because for a whole host of reasons others have been found wanting.
And no I am not referring to this forum, but countless other forums I approached in desperation.
Alejr you get the Oscar!

1 user thanked author for this post.

alejr

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You’re welcome

FYI, normal forum etiquette to show appreciation for a post someone made that you either found useful or fixed a problem you were having is to click the “thanks” button located between “reply” and “quote” at the bottom of their post.

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Following deleting the attached icons, I lost my Thunderbird folders again :

System restore did not bring them back, nor a Macrium backup.
So I had to re-install Thunderbird again, from my Window 7 laptop version.
I would like to make the following comments:

1. To do this successfully again, I had to delete the Local and Roaming Windows 11Thunderbird folders completely, solely removing the contents of these Thunderbird folders on my Windows 11 PC did not work.
2. How can I make a current backup of Thunderbird now, that when I go to reinstall it, it will then bring up the 30 odd folders that I have please?
3. Now my Windows 7 laptop is no longer updating my emails:

Is there a way to change/update the protocol of my Windows 7 version, to get round this issue please.
On Authentication method it is currently set as Normal password, if I change it to OAuth2, should that resolve the issue please?

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Up2you2 wrote:

On Authentication method it is currently set as Normal password, if I change it to OAuth2, should that resolve the issue please?

Yes!

As for backing up those folders, a full Macrium backup “should” do that.

If it’s not, then something’s probably not set correctly… maybe it’s set to “ignore” the user folders location

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Thank you.
Switching to OAuth2 did the trick, all new emails were downloaded.

Regarding Macrium, I will see if they have a help line for their free edition, but understand if they don’t.

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In the future don’t delete appdata.  That includes Thunderbird and many other programs data.  “Remove from quick access” can be used safely but not delete.

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Changing to OATH2 should fix the issue without changing / removing any mail / folders. (I have not confirmed this as I am waiting for the end of the month to see what Google actually want / need.)

What are local and roaming folders in TB?
If you use POP3 the folders are only local, If it’s MAPI the folders are copied of the server folders, unless you turn off sync for the folder in TB.

cheers, Paul

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Thank you.
Switching to OAuth2 did the trick, all new emails were downloaded.

What are local and roaming folders in TB, sorry I do not understand the question.
I do use POP3.

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Up2you2 wrote:

To do this successfully again, I had to delete the Local and Roaming Windows 11Thunderbird folders completely

What folders did you delete and why? TB folders have nothing to do with connection to a mail server.

cheers, Paul

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Up2you2 wrote:

Regarding Macrium, I will see if they have a help line for their free edition

Start a thread here, we have lots of Macrium users.

cheers, Paul

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alejr wrote:

Up2you2 wrote:

On Authentication method it is currently set as Normal password, if I change it to OAuth2, should that resolve the issue please?

Yes!

As for backing up those folders, a full Macrium backup “should” do that.

If it’s not, then something’s probably not set correctly… maybe it’s set to “ignore” the user folders location

Paul T and I have really been struggling to take this any further on the Backup software – Macrium Reflect forum.
As you were so successful in getting my emails and folders restored, I thought I would drop you a line on this.

Could I trouble you read through the post I submitted, which will bring you up to date.

 

 

 

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I’ve been watching the other thread and haven’t offered any advice because I’ve never used Macrium backup. I’ve been using Paragon for many years and it’s never failed to restore everything, including my Thunderbird folders.

My only suggestion would have been to “mount” the Macrium backup and verify your Thunderbird files are actually in it but, according to what you posted in the other forum, you already did that and they were.

As to why a restore doesn’t include your Thunderbird folders, I’m as much in the dark as everyone else because, if those folders actually are included in the backup you made, restoring it should also restore them!

And no, the Thunderbird S/W itself wouldn’t have any control over whether Macrium can or can’t restore those folders. It not being able to “see” them after a restore would only occur if either Macrium isn’t restoring them (why not ), or it’s restoring them to a different location than where they’re suppose to be (which should only happen if you specifically told Macrium to do that.)

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Thank you for your enlightened thoughts here, much appreciated.

I think that there is some kind of process that is going on, during the installation of the Macrium backup.
That it in turn goes directly to my Google online account, instead of replicating what’s on the actual backup.

The fact that I am trying to restore an original Windows 7 version/account to a Windows 11 might in itself create issues.
Also that the Authentication method was changed.

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Up2you2 wrote:

The fact that I am trying to restore an original Windows 7 version/account to a Windows 11 might in itself create issues.

And there’s your problem!

Backup S/W is not designed nor intended to be used to restore files/folders between different OS’s, especially the user files/folders!

In your case, Macrium is restoring your Thunderbird folders but to the location where they were in Win7, not the location where they need to be in Win11… which is why Thunderbird can’t see them.

The only way to properly restore files/folders from the backup of a different OS is to “manually” move them to where they need to be on the new OS after you’ve restore them.

The “easiest” way to do this is to mount the backup from the other OC (so it has a drive letter) and then simply drag & drop the files/folders to their proper locations on the new OS.

Once everything is where it needs to be and all the S/W on the new OS is working as it should, make a backup of the new OS so you’ll never again need to restore anything to it from the backup of the other OS.

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Whoa this is really something – thank you so much.
Taking in a deep breath, not so much of what I have to do here, but the fact from the sound of things you have potentially nailed it.

Let me chew this over, and once ready no doubt I may well be coming back to you.
As you can imagine this has been gnawing away at me for some time now, lucky I lost it all, in so much that it has raised this problem and issue.

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alejr wrote:

Up2you2 wrote:

The fact that I am trying to restore an original Windows 7 version/account to a Windows 11 might in itself create issues.

And there’s your problem!

Backup S/W is not designed nor intended to be used to restore files/folders between different OS’s, especially the user files/folders!

In your case, Macrium is restoring your Thunderbird folders but to the location where they were in Win7, not the location where they need to be in Win11… which is why Thunderbird can’t see them.

The only way to properly restore files/folders from the backup of a different OS is to “manually” move them to where they need to be on the new OS after you’ve restore them.

The “easiest” way to do this is to mount the backup from the other OC (so it has a drive letter) and then simply drag & drop the files/folders to their proper locations on the new OS.

Once everything is where it needs to be and all the S/W on the new OS is working as it should, make a backup of the new OS so you’ll never again need to restore anything to it from the backup of the other OS.

Sorry Alejr in spite of Paul’s reply, I will still need a line by line, blow by blow account on how to do this please.
Not only for me, but for all those who might follow, in fact thinking about it, might it be an idea to start a new topic at the same time:

How to backup Thunderbird using different versions of Windows operating systems.

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Up2you2 wrote:

I think that there is some kind of process that is going on

This is not the case.
Thunderbird mail is stand-alone and can be restored to any windows box easily.

cheers, Paul

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Mozilla Support Forum.

Windows 11 Macrium Reflect backup restore folder issue.
Matt Jun 19, 2022, 11:14:45 AM

Do we agree backup software is not intended to transfer data between devices. Certainly.

Do we agree the locations used may well have changed. Again certainly.

But none of the information appearing in your second posting was in the first.

Given the default storage location includes the users account name in the path on windows, changing devices is highly likely to see the path to files in the user account change.

Thunderbird stores all user data (not program files) by default using the windows system variable %appdata% to determine the path.

So if you open the windows files explorer and type %appdata% in the location bar and press enter windows will show you where that “real” location is. Thunderbird profiles, or pointers to them if they are not in default locations are stored in %appdata%\Thunderbird in the profiles.ini file among other data.

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Are their any other alternatives in trying to resolve this problem please?

Top 10 Contributor

Personally I have no great issue with just copying the contents of the “%appdata%\thunderbird” folder onto a USB drive and then onto the new device in the same location. (Found by typing %appdata% into the windows file manager on the new device as the %appdata% part may have changed. Especially if the user account part of the string has changed). The issue is, windows changes the location not Thunderbird, the Thunderbird part is a constant. Usually the user name changing changes the full path, but from XP to Windows 7 they changed the name of the folders as well from C:\Documents and Settings to C:\users

The only caveat is that you need to use the same or newer Thunderbird version on the new device otherwise it gets messy using command line statements to force the use of a new profile with an older version. It can be done and generally successfully. But why ask for troubles.

The other is Thunderbird must not be running while you are copying files.

Thunderbird “next” 102 due in a few of weeks has an in build profile import/export. Just how good it will be is yet to be seen. I can’t use it because my profile is more than 2Gb. (like more than 52 really) but once it is released I will put it through it’s paces to see if it helps those with large profiles or not.

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Please don’t post replies from other forums here.
Either ask a question directly or tell us it’s solved.

cheers, Paul

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@Up2you2

Haven’t the foggiest as to why you posted all that from another forum (which, as Paul T pointed out, you shouldn’t have) as it’s not relevant to your problem.

Boiled down to it’s simplest terms, these are the facts.

Can the Thunderbird files/folders from an account on a particular PC be used for a Thunderbird account on a “different” PC?

Provided it’s the same version of Thunderbird, yes!

Can a backup made on a particular PC be used to restore files/folder to a “different” PC?

Except under the very specific circumstances where those files/folders are actually in exactly the same location on both PC’s, no!

In your situation, the first applies but the second doesn’t!

If you go back up to the “very detailed” instructions I provided earlier in this thread on how to “copy” the Thunderbird files/folder from your Win7 PC to your Win11 PC, you’ll see that I clearly pointed out the difference in where those files/folders were located between the 2 PC’s (#2437941)

That difference is exactly why using your Win7 backup to attempt to restore those files/folders to your Win11 PC is not working!

If you can’t grasp this simple fact and follow the advice already provided on how to properly copy those files/folders from your Win7 PC to your Win11 PC, you’ll never resolve this.

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First off I would like to apologise for complicating matters unnecessarily.
Secondly on a totally unrelated subject, I have finally found someone to help in resolving my son’s ADHD condition this week, after years of trying.
So today I am back on track, to give this next step my undivided attention.

Thank you pin pointing #2437941

Please bear with me, as although I pretty sure I can do this, this is in fact the first time I am going to try and get my Thunderbird Windows 11 version rectified, so I am then in a position to make a correct backup from it.

Okay you write:

The “easiest” way to do this is to mount the backup from the other OC (so it has a drive letter) and then simply drag & drop the files/folders to their proper locations on the new OS.

Taking in a deep breath here, as I really have to work out what you are saying – sorry.
You will have to write this out in layman’s terms please, as it is imperative that I understand you.
Mount the backup?
From the other OC?
If you can kindly clarify what I have to do, then for sure I will carry it out.

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OC = other computer
Mount = double click the backup file or Browse it in Macrium.

Do NOT drop the file into the “correct” location. Put them in a temporary location. Once you have checked that you have all the files you need, then you can do some swapping to put them in the correct location.

cheers, Paul

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alejr wrote:

@Up2you2

Haven’t the foggiest as to why you posted all that from another forum (which, as Paul T pointed out, you shouldn’t have) as it’s not relevant to your problem.

Boiled down to it’s simplest terms, these are the facts.

Can the Thunderbird files/folders from an account on a particular PC be used for a Thunderbird account on a “different” PC?

Provided it’s the same version of Thunderbird, yes!

Can a backup made on a particular PC be used to restore files/folder to a “different” PC?

Except under the very specific circumstances where those files/folders are actually in exactly the same location on both PC’s, no!

In your situation, the first applies but the second doesn’t!

If you go back up to the “very detailed” instructions I provided earlier in this thread on how to “copy” the Thunderbird files/folder from your Win7 PC to your Win11 PC, you’ll see that I clearly pointed out the difference in where those files/folders were located between the 2 PC’s (#2437941)

That difference is exactly why using your Win7 backup to attempt to restore those files/folders to your Win11 PC is not working!

If you can’t grasp this simple fact and follow the advice already provided on how to properly copy those files/folders from your Win7 PC to your Win11 PC, you’ll never resolve this.

Sorry Alejr in spite of Paul’s reply, I will still need a line by line, blow by blow account on how to do this please.
Not only for me, but for all those who might follow, in fact thinking about it, might it be an idea to start a new topic at the same time:
How to backup Thunderbird using different versions of Windows operating systems.

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Up2you2 wrote:

I will still need a line by line, blow by blow account on how to do this

Your post 2449631 show a mounted Macrium backup image. This is where you copy the data.
Then paste it to a temporary folder on C:
We know you can do this.

cheers, Paul

p.s. Can you remind us why you want to restore the old data?

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Paul T,

What he’s trying to do is duplicate his Thunderbird account from his Win7 PC over to his Win11 PC (which I had “finally” helped him do earlier in this thread.)

After that is were the Macrium backup problem came into play.

Once his Win7 Thunderbird account was successfully duplicated onto his Win11 PC and verified as working properly, and before he made a backup of his Win11 PC, he decided he wanted to remove some folders from his Quick Access section.

But, instead of selected the “unpin from Quick Access” option for those folders, he deleted them (see his post #2455766) which deleted the Thunderbird files/folders he’d copied over from his Win7 PC.

From that point forward, he’s been trying to restore those missing folders from a Macrium backup he’d made and, at your suggestion, started a new thread to try and resolve that issue (good call on your part. )

However, since the backup he was using came from his Win7 PC and not his Win11 PC (something apparently never mentioned nor realized in the other thread) it never worked.

It wasn’t until he came back over to this thread to ask for help again and mentioned he was trying to use his Win7 PC backup to restore the Thunderbird files/folder to his Win11 PC (see his post #2454426) that the real issue with the backup failures became apparent.

I know, all that’s quite convoluted, especially since it’s spread over 2 different thread, but now that we know why all his previous restore attempts failed, we “should” be able to help him resolve this.

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Hi Paul,

Thank you for tour replies.

Okay I did what you suggested, that I did before, but as in my previous message to you  #2450963 when I go to open this image it is coming up empty.

Now something to add that may have an effect on all of this, when I open up Macrium it is coming up with the following message at the top of the screen:

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Up2you2 wrote:

Sorry Alejr in spite of Paul’s reply, I will still need a line by line, blow by blow account on how to do this please.

Ok, lets make this simple.

Forget trying to use your Win7 backup to do this!

Go back to my post #2437025 and follow thru the instructions I gave you previously until the Thunderbird account on your Win11 PC is a duplicate of the one on your Win7 PC and you’ve verified it’s working (remember, you’ll probably need to reset it for OAuth2.)

Once that’s done, and before you change anything else on your Win11 PC, make a backup of that PC in case you need to restore things to it again.

Note: if you decide you want to remove anything from your Quick Access section on the Win11 PC, DO NOT delete it. Use the “unpin from Quick Access” option (available in the right-click context menu) instead.

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alejr wrote:

Go back to my post #2437025 and follow thru the instructions I gave you

Thank you clarifying the history of these events, you’ve got it – hit the nail on the head.

Thunderbird on my Windows 11 is all present and correct, working perfectly as far as I can see.
Now the task at hand is in trying to make a backup of it, that specifically will display all of my email folders.

You write: Go back to my post #2437025 and follow thru the instructions I gave you.

Can I take time out here so to speak.
As you know I have got my Thunderbird up and running again through my old Windows 7 version, but that version of Thunderbird email wise is now six months old.
In the event I had to resort to again, to get my Windows 11 version to recognise all of my folders, that is a massive number of emails to update and go through again, putting and filing them in the correct folders.

So what am I saying here, is that I am very nervous, and I’m just racking my brain trying to work round a way of not having to potentially do this again.
In fact just thinking this all through, and please correct me if I am wrong here, but implementing #2437025 will in fact effectively take me back to my Windows 7 version and date please?

You write make a backup up of my PC, that is exactly what I am referring to, I can but when I do, and what’s more on the restoration of it, it is of course without all of my folders. Or at least has been on the last two attempts.

Please don’t get me wrong on all of this, more than prepared to do whatever, but I just want to minimise the risk of having to start all over again, on a Windows 7 version.

Now for something completely different.
I have also made a backup of my current Windows 11 Thunderbird, using the software Hekasoft Backup and Restore.

Maybe I have misunderstood you, sorry if that is the case, but I have to clarify to make sure that everything I do is clear and right.

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Stop using different products.
Stick to Macrium Reflect so that you only need to learn one product.

A backup of Thunderbird email is simple. Copy / backup everything under C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles.
This is easy with Macrium File and Folder Backup.

Once you have a backup of W11 Thunderbird mail you can follow instructions in #2437025

cheers, Paul

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Ok, first things first…

If in fact you now have Thunderbird back up and running exactly as you want it on your Win11 PC, forgot about using anything from you Win7 PC!

What you need to do now is make a backup from your Win11 PC and you have two different options for doing that.

1- Make a “full” backup of everything on your Win11 PC.

2- Backup “only” the Thunderbird files/folders on your Win11 PC.

My suggestion would be option #1 because it’s always possible to restore just “part” of a full backup (i.e. only the Thunderbird files/folders) if needed but you can only restore the whole OS from a full backup.

Also, I’d recommend doing regular backups (I do a “full” backup of my own Win10 PC every Sunday morning.)

If you decide on option #2, be aware of the following…

A “proper” backup of Thunderbird must include everything in these two locations on your Win11 PC.

C:\Users\Home\AppData\local\Thunderbird
               and
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

Backing up only C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles as suggested by Paul T wouldn’t backup the account settings and all the existing messages and folders for the accounts.

BTW, I agree with Paul T about your backup S/W.

While it’s pretty obvious you don’t yet have a good understand of all the features Macrium backup provides, at least you know the basics of how to use it.

Moving to a different product at this point will simple confuse things even more as you’ll need to learn how it works vs what you already know about Macrium.

Of course all we can do is provide some guidance from our own personal experience, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do.

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alejr wrote:

to my post #2437025

Thank you, you have addressed my concern, substitute Windows 11 PC whenever Windows 7 PC is quoted on your post #2437025.

I have made a full image backup on Macrium Reflect.
I will stick with Macrium S/W.

It’s late here now, I hope to do this in the morning when I’m fresh.
Very grateful for your additional help here.

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Hi Alejr,

Okay this morning I have corrected your instructions to read solely and only Windows 11 now.
So I am ready to go.

Gone through all your instructions, and although I feel confident about them, a nagging thought has come back to me.
When I tried this the fist time (using Windows 7) just deleting the contents did not work.
This was:
1- On your Win11 PC “delete” the contents of both of these Thunderbird folders (don’t delete the actual Thunderbird folders themselves, just everything inside them)

C:\Users\Home\AppData\
C:\Users\Home\AppData\

In the end the only way was in fact by deleting the whole folders, not just the contents.
So this has raised a concern, to the degree that I have had a thought, that maybe it might be best do all of this on a spare SSD first, as a trial run so to speak.
If you don’t mind to be prudent.

I have one on my PC at the moment, what I would like to do is to clean and delete all the data on it first.
Then to install my current backup of my Windows 11 on it.
Then swoop it to my “C” location to boot up from it from there.
And finally then, carry out your suggestion.

I would be grateful if you could run through how to delete all the data, and the various steps you feel are necessary to carry this out please.

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Do NOT delete anything. Use a temporary directory.
If you keep all the data it will be much easier to revert than using restore in Macrium.

cheers, Paul

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Up2you2 wrote:

1- On your Win11 PC “delete” the contents of both of these Thunderbird folders (don’t delete the actual Thunderbird folders themselves, just everything inside them)

C:\Users\Home\AppData\
C:\Users\Home\AppData\

Those are NOT the folders I told you to delete the contents of!

It was these 2 folders:

C:\Users\Home\AppData\local\Thunderbird
               and
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

Also, you indicated that Thunderbird on your Win11 PC was up and working exactly like you wanted and all you needed to do was create a backup of it.

Up2you2 wrote:

Thunderbird on my Windows 11 is all present and correct, working perfectly as far as I can see. Now the task at hand is in trying to make a backup of it, that specifically will display all of my email folders.

If so, there’s absolutely no reason you need to follow my previous instructions as they were solely intended to “duplicate” the Thunderbird account on your Win7 PC over to your Win11 PC.

If the Thunderbird account on your Win11 PC is in fact a duplicate of what’s on your Win7 PC, deleting anything will mess that up and you’ll have to start over again from scratch!

If the Win11 Thunderbird account is not a duplicate of your Win7 PC, then you must follow the instructions I provided previous, exactly as I originally posted them, to duplicate it over to your Win11 PC once again.

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Got it (okay eventually), on re-reading this specific comment you made:

If the Win11 Thunderbird account is not a duplicate of your Win7 PC, then you must follow the instructions I provided previous, exactly as I originally posted them, to duplicate it over to your Win11 PC once again.

Translates as follows:

Trying to restore a backup of a Thunderbird account, that was created on a different version of Windows, will not reproduce any previous folders of emails that one might have created.

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Up2you2 wrote:

will not reproduce any previous folders of emails that one might have created

This is not true.
You can – and I have done – create the email exactly as it was on the old machine.

What you need to be careful of is where you restore the data and permissions written as part of the restore. This is why I suggest restoring to a temporary folder, so you can check all is well before attempting to use the old data.

cheers, Paul

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You write:
You can – and I have done – create the email exactly as it was on the old machine.
As I have misunderstood, sometimes at cross purposes, etc., I am talking about Folders and you are mentioning emails.

Next – What you need to be careful of is where you restore the data and permissions written as part of the restore.
This is exactly what I was hoping to avoid.

Having said that your idea of creating a temporary folder, I would be interested to hear if Alejr has tried this solution.

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Up2you2 wrote:

Having said that your idea of creating a temporary folder, I would be interested to hear if Alejr has tried this solution.

I always have a current “working” backup of my system so I don’t need to do that. If I accidentally mess something up (which, on occasion, I have) I simply use the backup to restore things back to the way they were.

In fact, I have “weekly” backups of my system going back as far as 2 years ago when I first upgraded my Win7 Desktop to Win10 just in case I ever need to restore anything that might be that old.

Obviously you’re not someone who’s comfortable doing that which is why we’re trying to keep things as simple as possible so you won’t have to start over again from scratch.

And speaking of starting from scratch…

Lets try to clarify things once again.

Is Thunderbird on your Win11 PC a “duplicate” of what’s on your Win7 PC (i.e. when you open it, you see the same folders and messages?)

 

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Q: Is Thunderbird on your Win11 PC a “duplicate” of what’s on your Win7 PC (i.e. when you open it, you see the same folders and messages?)
A: A hundred percent yes.

Now and every day new folders are being created, and new emails going into old and new folders.
Already six months so there is a lot to loose, and a lot at stake, in not being able to back up my current Win 11 version of Thunderbird today.
Let me correct myself here, by that I mean I can for sure back up, but it is the ability to restore all these folders that is my prime concern.

I’ve been racking my brain as to how this could be done.
I would even be prepared to do this whole exercise manually, that is just the folders themselves, not the emails as there are thousands of them.

I’m not in a particular hurry, but it would just be wonderful to have some piece of mind on this.
Further more I am sure there must be countless others, who would really appreciate a work around on this.

Finally I have no issues at all in backing up weekly, but I want to do it with the knowledge that my folders are there.

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Ok, your Win11 Thunderbird is where it should be and you’ve made a “full” backup of your Win11 PC.

From this point onward, you need to “ignore” any/all advice from this thread because it was solely intended to help you duplicate your Win7 Thunderbird account over to your Win11 PC and that’s been accomplished.

Nothing in this thread is applicable for making backups nor restoring files/folders from a backup!

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Thank you.

Previously I made a backup on my Thunderbird Windows 11 after it was fully working and updated for the first time.
Then I lost all my emails on the deletion of the task bar icons.
Reached for my Macrium image file backup copy, installed it, but no folders.

Now once again everything is working again on Thunderbird (thanks to you), all folders showing and updated.
Again I have made a new image backup two days ago.

My questions are these please:

1. Can I install this image backup with the expectation, that yes my folders will be automatically displayed
2. If so I would like to try this out, to gain confidence, in the event I need it, it will in fact work
3. On another SSD, that has to be wiped clean first

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Yes, it can be restored as it was.
No, you do not need to test this. (We don’t want to have to walk you through recovery again for something we know works.) If you ever need to recover, ask here.

cheers, Paul

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alejr wrote:

Ok, your Win11 Thunderbird is where it should be and you’ve made a “full” backup of your Win11 PC.

From this point onward, you need to “ignore” any/all advice from this thread because it was solely intended to help you duplicate your Win7 Thunderbird account over to your Win11 PC and that’s been accomplished.

Nothing in this thread is applicable for making backups nor restoring files/folders from a backup!

“Nothing in this thread is applicable for making backups nor restoring files/folders from a backup!”

Thank you for this clarification and confirmation.
So the six million dollar question, where do we go from here please.
Is there any way to consider a work around, or by definition this is just not possible.

I would have thought it might be possible to backup individual folders, but then the question remains of how to integrate them into the old original version of Thunderbird on Windows 7.
Or alternatively starting from scratch say, with a new Thunderbird account on Windows 11, and then trying to integrate these backed up folders into it.

If anything is possible, might be best to start a new Topic.

 

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Why do you want to integrate any mail? Are you missing email?

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

Why do you want to integrate any mail? Are you missing email?

cheers, Paul

Okay today everything is perfect, however tomorrow I loose my SSD “C” drive.

No backup of my folders, no problem I go back to my Windows 7 Thunderbird copy, and start again.
But the last six months on working on Windows 11 version have been lost.

So in theory I would like to see if there is a way round to save these current Window 11 Thunderbird folders.
Then secondly if there is a way to integrate them back into my Windows 11 version of Thunderbird.

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As we have said several times, make a backup of the Thunderbird profile directory and you will be able to restore to the exact point of the backup.

Backup should be done regularly because machines do fail. I (automatically) backup daily to a network connected disk and then back that unit up regularly.

cheers, Paul

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Up2you2 wrote:

No backup of my folders, no problem I go back to my Windows 7 Thunderbird copy, and start again. But the last six months on working on Windows 11 version have been lost.

That’s exactly why you need to make a “full” backup of your Win11 PC and not just the Thunderbird files/folders. A “full” backup will include all the files/folders on a PC (including the Thunderbird files/folders) and, if needed, you can restore only those files/folders from that backup.

Also, as has been pointed out before, a backup from a particular PC using a specific OS is NEVER suppose to be used to restore things to a “different” PC using a “different” OS so, once you’ve create the “full” backup of your Win11 PC, DO NOT use the Win7 backup to restore anything to it or you’ll be right back where you started!

The proper way to use backups is to create separate backups for each PC and, if you need to restore something, only use the backup you made for that specific PC!

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Up2you2, geekdom

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alejr wrote:

That’s exactly why you need to make a “full” backup of your Win11 PC and not just the Thunderbird files/folders. A “full” backup will include all the files/folders on a PC (including the Thunderbird files/folders) and, if needed, you can restore only those files/folders from that backup.

I don’t think I have done this before, and if not I would like to do some kind of dress rehearsal/test if possible.
To make sure it does work, and secondly so I can have it all written down and ready to go please.

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You have told us you made a full backup and a file backup (I can’t find the post), so we know you can do this.

Before making a backup you need a Macrium Boot USB.

Follow the instructions in this post to test a restore. #2454724

cheers, Paul

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Up2you2 wrote:

I don’t think I have done this before, and if not I would like to do some kind of dress rehearsal/test if possible. To make sure it does work, and secondly so I can have it all written down and ready to go please.

As I stated before, I’ve never used Macrium so I can’t provide “any” help on the specifics of using it to do that!

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Hi Alejr,

Trying to wind this up with some kind of success, as far as being able to make a current backup that works.

Sorry to ask you this again, but which backup program do you use please?

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Back in 2013 when I upgraded from WinXP to Win7 I moved from its “built-in” NTBackup to the free version of Paragon Backup & Recovery 2013 because Win7 didn’t include nor support NTBackup.

I’m currently using their free for non-commercial purposes Paragon Backup & Recovery Community Edition

While Paragon’s user interface and how it works are different, it basically offers the same features as the free version of Macrium (full & incremental backup/restore, disk imaging/cloning, bootable WinPE USB/DVD rescue media, etc.)

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Up2you2

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alejr wrote:

Back in 2013 when I upgraded from WinXP to Win7 I moved from its “built-in” NTBackup to the free version of Paragon Backup & Recovery 2013 because Win7 didn’t include nor support NTBackup.

I’m currently using their free for non-commercial purposes Paragon Backup & Recovery Community Edition

While Paragon’s user interface and how it works are different, it basically offers the same features as the free version of Macrium (full & incremental backup/restore, disk imaging/cloning, bootable WinPE USB/DVD rescue media, etc.)

Grateful for this, let me make a back up first.

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Paragon backup successfully completed.

Now what is the best/easiest way to verify that for sure it includes all of my folders please?

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You can’t.
You can restore a file or two to test.
You can restore the whole backup, overwriting your system.

Paragon should have a verify option you can select when you make the backup. This will compare the backup with the original, but nearly doubles the backup time.

cheers, Paul

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Up2you2 wrote:

Now what is the best/easiest way to verify that for sure it includes all of my folders please?

Open Paragon and go to the “My Backups” item in the left hand pane and select an existing backup job (in your case there should only be one), click the desired restore point on the backup timeline (again, in your case there should only be one) and select the Mount/Unmount option.

If the backup image isn’t already mounted, it’ll be mounted.
If it’s already mounted it’ll be unmounted.

In the window that pops up, select a drive letter.

Using Windows Explorer you can then browse that drive to verify all the files/folders you backed up are actually IN the backup (your Thunderbird files/folders will be in the following two locations.)

C:\Users\Home\AppData\local\Thunderbird
               and
C:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

Note: be sure to go back and Unmount the image once you’ve verified everything’s OK.

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Thank you.

On opening up the app, top left hand corner my new backup (1)0left or right clicking  – nothing happens.
Item below on clicking it, brings up attached screen shot:

 

Clicking on Disk/Volumes brings up second screen shot:

 

Please advise.

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Since you only have one backup, it’s already highlight in the left-hand panel so you don’t need to click it.

To get the menu that allows you to Mount/Unmount the image you need to “left click” the desired restore point on the backup timeline.

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Thank you.

I don’t know what you are clicking on to get this image, I’ve tried everything, please advise

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Both Paul and I warned you learning how to use new backup software would be tricky.

The whole point of the red boxes in the previous image I posted was to try and make it clear you needed to…

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Thank you.

First up “You haven’t created recovery media yet”, should I please?

Clicking on the perforated line, on either left hand produces no response, please advise?
However left click on the bottom item produces Backup and Recovery, one of which is Files/Folders.

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@Up2you2,

Please stop asking questions about other functions of the backup software until we get you squared away on the specific item we’re currently dealing with.

Also, please stop posting info about stuff we didn’t ask you about.

All of that just adds even more confusion to the already “extremely confusing” mess this thread has degenerated into!

---

Up2you2 wrote:

Clicking on the perforated line, on either left hand produces no response, please advise?

My instructions were to click the colored dash, not to click the perforate line!

In fact, you don’t actually have to “click” that particular dash, you can just hover your mouse arrow over it and the options window will pop up.

And yes, I also think using a “different” colored dash in a line of other dashes to indicate that’s your backup image is one of the most idiotic ideas I’ve ever encountered!

Especially when the difference between the dashes is so minor as to be almost “undetectable” to those of us with good vision (heaven help those with poor vision or color blindness!)

If it’d been me, I’d have used the colored check mark it turns into when you select it to indicate where on the timeline your backups are located…

…instead of the “very hard to discern” colored dash the (being very polite here) doofus who wrote that part of the programing decided to use!

 

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geekdom

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Up2you2:

Please consider taking a basic computer course that includes, among other things:

• files and file management
• directory structure and representation
• programs and how to install and run them
• Windows operations
• basic computer commands
• Windows structure
• Windows terminology (such as registry and profile)
• Computer terminology

Carpe Diem {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1778 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox115.0b1 MicrosoftDefender

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alejr wrote:

colored dash,

Sorry but there is no colored dash   appearing:

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Annotated from alejr.

Annotated from Up2you2.

Even though the color may not be visible to you, try moving the cursor to the “first hyphen to the left of the clock”.

alejr’s comments are civil.

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alejr

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Got it – thank you, just one hyphen out and I blew it previously.

Okay I’m on the moon now, heading to Mars.

I have now got this far, please advise:

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The 3rd item in that list is your main OS and is the one you’ll what to assign a drive letter to so you can use Windows Explorer to verify your Thunderbird files/folders were included in the backup.

FYI…

The first two items were created when Windows was installed and you don’t need to worry about they. Also, don’t mess with them in any way or Windows will stop working!

The last item “appears” to be an OEM recovery partition which would typically only ever be used if you needed to restore the system back to the exact condition it was in when you bought it.

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@Up2you2,

Here’s a couple of support items for Paragon Backup & Recovery you should be aware of that’ll provide more “in depth” help as you learn how to use it.

Link to download the user manual (it’s for v17 instead of CE, but everything’s still the same.)

Link to their Knowledge Base (also v17 instead of CE, but it also still applies.)

Link to their Support Forum (covers all their products, not just Backup & Recovery.)

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Great – got to here:

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Great!

Now that the backup image has been mounted as drive A:, all you need to do is verify your Thunderbird files/folders are include in it.

They’ll be in

A:\Users\Home\AppData\local\Thunderbird
               and
A:\Users\Home\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird

Also, once you’ve done than, be sure to “Unmount” the backup (follow the same process you used to mount it, but when you get to the drive letter selection drop-down, select None.)

 

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This is as far as I got, how do I check that my folders are present please:

 

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Browse the Profiles folder and sub-folders.

cheers, Paul

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You need to compare the contents of the two Thunderbird folders on drive A: (the “mounted backup image“) to the two Thunderbird folders on drive C: (your “primary OS drive“)

Browse to one of the Thunderbird folders on drive A:, “right-click” the folder, and select Properties.

Leaving the Properties window for that folder open, browse to the same folder on drive C:, “right-click” it, and select Properties.

Bring both of the Properties views to the front, place them side by side, and then compare the Contains: info.

The number of files/folders should be the same (or at least “very close” depending on how many Thunderbird messages you’ve received/deleted since you made the backup.)

Rinse, wash, repeat for the other Thunderbird folder!

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Up2you2

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Thank you for going to the trouble of making not just this example of your instructions so clear, but all of them.

Your time and patience has been greatly appreciated.

I attach two screen shots of what has come up, I will need further instructions please to make a comparison:

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Those screen shots are what you get if your “right-click” the drive, my instructions very clearly indicated you were suppose to “right-click” the folders!

Throughout this thread (and the one you started over in the Macrium backup area) you have “consistently” failed to actually follow the instructions you’ve been given.

I’m usually a very patient person and it takes a lot to “get under my skin” but…

If you continue to do this, I’ll have to stop trying to helping you as it’s just getting way too frustrating to have to keep explaining things to you over-and-over that “most” people would grasp the first time thru!

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A:UsersHomeAppDataRoamingThunderbirdProperties:

C:UsersHomeAppDataRoamingThunderbirdProperties:

 

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Ok, those show that, while the number of folders is the same, the Thunderbird “roaming” folder on Drive C: (your OS) now has 599 more files in it than the Thunderbird “roaming” folder on Drive A: (your backup) which, since the backup was made 4 days ago, “should” be the number of new messages you’ve received since then.

Now you need to compare the Thunderbird “local” folders located in…

A:\Users\Home\AppData\local\Thunderbird
               and
C:\Users\Home\AppData\local\Thunderbird

BTW, that difference in the number of files (i.e. new Thunderbird messages) is just one of the reasons you should get in the habit of making “regular” backups of your system.

As you use the other software on your PC to do things, any number of other files may get added/modified/deleted as well and, if you needed to restore things from the backup, you’d want them to be as “up-to-date” as possible.

Personally, I backup mine up to a 2TB external drive every Sunday morning.

I always delete the “oldest” backup right before I run it to make room for the “new” one (it current holds 35 weekly backups which is just over 8 months.)

YMWV depending on what size backup drive you use and how large each backup is (mine average ~33GB each.)

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Up2you2

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A:UsersHomeAppDataLocalThunderbirdProperties:

C:UsersHomeAppDataLocalThunderbirdProperties:

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Ok, those show that, while the number of folders is the same, the Thunderbird “local” folder on Drive C: (your OS) now has 71 more files in it than the Thunderbird “local” folder on Drive A: (your backup) which, once again, “should” be due to the number of new messages you’ve received since you made your backup.

So you’ve now “proven” your Win11 backup actually does include all your Thunderbird files/folders (current up to the date you actually made the backup.)

If you need to restore anything from this point forward, make absolutely sure to only use…

Your Win11 backup to restore to your Win11 PC

Your Win7 backup to restore to your Win7 PC

As long as you don’t mixed that up, you “shouldn’t” have this sort of problem again!

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wavy, geekdom

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