How to Transfer Your Thunderbird Address Book to a New Computer

When you get a new computer, the last thing you want to have to do is retype your entire address book into your email program. However, most email programs that you install onto your computer have a function that allows you to export your contacts into a file that can then be imported into most other email programs. Thunderbird stores its contacts in a common format, making it easy to export and import on any computer and into various other programs.

Instructions

Export Your Address Book

1. Launch Thunderbird on your old computer. Sign in to the profile that contains the address book information you want to transfer to your new computer. You can transfer address books from multiple profiles, but each profile's information must be located and saved individually.

2. Click "Tools" and select "Address Book," or use the "Ctrl-2" keyboard shortcut to access your address book. This will open a separate Thunderbird window. In the left pane of the window, there should be two files. One is named "Personal Address Book," and the other is called "Collected Addresses."

3. Select one of the files and go to "Tools" and click "Export." Give your file a name, preferably something easy to remember and quickly identifiable, and click "Save." This will save your address book as an "LDIF" file that can be transferred to Thunderbird on your new computer.

4. Repeat Step 3 with the second address book file, making sure to name it something different from the first file.

Transfer Your Address Book

1. Locate the LDIF files on your old computer and burn them to a disc or copy them to a removable media drive. Alternatively, if you are already set up for the Internet on your new computer and can access your email, you can attach the files to an email and send them to yourself.

2. Transfer the copied files to the hard drive of your new computer or download them from your email.

3. Launch Thunderbird on the new computer and navigate to the profile to which you want to add your address book.

4. Click "Tools" and select "Address Book." In the window that appears, click "Tools" and choose "Import."

5. Select "Address Books" as the type of file and click "Next." Choose "Text File" from the list and click "Next."

6. Choose "LDIF" from the drop-down menu in the next window, and Thunderbird will automatically search your computer for any LDIF files. Select your address book files (one at a time) from the list and click "Open." The program will transfer the addresses to your new profile.

Tips & Warnings

• Even if Thunderbird has become corrupted or has been uninstalled, the Profile Folder still holds the address book information. You will need to locate the Profile Folder on your desktop by searching for your address book files, "abook.mab" and "history.mab." Be sure to include hidden files and folders in your search parameters; for security purposes, the profile information may not be publicly visible.

References

• Mozilla Zine: Thunderbird to Thunderbird Mail Transfer Tutorial (windows)