How to replace Windows Live Mail with Thunderbird

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I don’t want to start a religious war, but reader Conehead has the inside scoop on how to use Thunderbird with your Microsoft-supplied email addresses
[See the full post at: How to replace Windows Live Mail with Thunderbird]

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I have also setup Windows Live Mail to access an Outlook 365 mail account. The settings are almost the same.

I have no idea if Thunderbird or WLM will work with Outlook.com after Microsoft makes it changes.

Conehead

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Wouldn’t it be easier just to set up your hotmail account to forward all your emails to another email address of your choice that you know works well with WLM such as gmail?

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That’ll work. You can also forward to Yahoo Mail.

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I’ve found thunderbird to be unfriendly for various reasons. One that sticks in memory is the new account setup, it is too eager to guess the correct setting and not willing to just let me tell it the actual correct settings first. (not an issue for large well known email providers)

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John R,

That’s always a possibility. I am waiting to see what happens when Micosoft actually changes the Outlook.com mail system.

I just happen to like WLM even though it is ancient.

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Woody
I agree with Steve. I also like WLM even if it is ancient. I bet Microsoft wonders why people are getting tired of them. Maybe its because they never heard of the term to make there software UPWARDS COMPATIBLE.
It also might be because people don’t like to be nagged to change their OS if they don’t want to.
That why just maybe why PC sales are down I believe 10% and more people are using tablets.
Sam

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I will continue using WLM as long as I can because it has all my storage folders on it going back for years and it is surprising how often I have to refer to them – however important emails and attachments are also saved and backed up elsewhere just in case. I like WLM because it does all I want from an email client, and it just works. I recommend it to all my friends as it reduces the number of calls I get asking for help!!

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Linux user here, after you install Thunderbird, you should install “Lighting” for an integrated calendar.

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I’m a big fan of T’bird. Syncs with Google contacts (using gcontactsync) and Google calendar (using Lightning) plus inbuilt browser and other Mozilla addons if you want them. It also plays nicely with AquaMail for Android. Setting up non-standard mail is easy enough if you accept that you might have to let T’bird tell you it won’t work then amend settings yourself.

Also as JohnR suggested, forwarding an old M$ account mails to another email account usually works, and if you can’t export/import old mails then use the old a/c as an archive.

Win10 22H2 Pro, MBAM Premium, Firefox, OpenOffice, Sumatra PDF.

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As long as you aren’t using a Microsoft-owned account, you should be just fine.

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I kept Windows Live Mail for the exact same reason. Years of storage folders from Outlook Express. It was a fairly simple process to migrate them from Outlook Express, as Live Mail supported the old format.

At the same time, I decided to start using Thunderbird going forward, and I didn’t want to clutter it up with the old folders. So now use Live Mail for my legacy email archives, and Thunderbird for everything else.

I know it’s just a personal preference, because I could have continued to use Live Mail for everything, but with MS dropping support for Outlook Express, my confidence in Live Mail for ongoing support was lowered somewhat.

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WLM satisfies my needs very nicely. I use it to download my Gmail for easier organization. Just checked and I have saved emails in WLM from 1999.
I also use the calendar function of WLM which I believe is somehow connected to my .live.com account. Being 69 I can use a reminder now and then of the next grandkid’s event.
What alternatives should I look into that will 1> work on Windows 10 and, 2> allow me to download Gmail accounts and, 3> have a calendar and, 4> has a similar contacts feature?
I know I will be on Windows 10 probably by mid-June.
Current I am a Window 7 user.
Thanks for any and all suggestions.

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I knew this day was coming when the first emailed “patch” was released for WLM. I was able to revert to the non-patched version and it’s been working OK for a while, but I haven’t been migrated to the new Office 365 protocol yet. I’ve been playing around with Thunderbird and with another email program called “eM Client” which looks to be quite powerful but costs $ (free trial). eM Client is aware of the changes MS will be making and say they’ll update the client to handle Office 365 email servers, but are waiting until MS has completed the change-over. If Thunderbird handles the new server protocol, I’ll have to decide whether the added features of eM Client are worth the money or not. Free sounds good…

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I use eM Client as well, excellent program and it does in fact have a free version for home use that even supports Exchange, but only allows 2 mail accounts to be set up.

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That’s one nice thing about Thunderbird — it works across platforms.

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The big thing with WLM is that it works and people find it familiar so stick with it, still a fan of Windows 7 so get that. However the security issues are a concern and as such a lot of the email providers will no longer accept connections from it so anyone sticking with may find them selves having to get another on-line email address.

GMail is an example where it is starting to refuse connections and had to change a few peoples computers over to Thunderbird because of.

However you can help with themes and add-ons as they can make Thunderbirds look like MS Outlook and WLM and with calendar integration and showing people how to add add-ons that work better for them make the transition easier.

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tHEMES AND ADD-ONS LIKE https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/thunderbird/addon/outlook-2003-bluetb/?src=search

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/thunderbird/addon/winmailblue/?src=search

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Few day ago, I switched my Windows Live Mail emails to Thunderbird with all emails data and after many searches I got this solution and it helped me very well. It converted my all emails folder from Windows Live Mail to Thunderbird in few minutes.http://www.pcvare.com/eml-to-mbox-converter.html

[NOTE: I approved this post, although I’m skeptical about the product. I couldn’t find any direct links to malware, and it doesn’t appear on the main malware sites. Still, if you decide to use it, be careful, and don’t click on any crapware installers. If you have additional information, please post it here. -WL]

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