How to Import a Mozilla Thunderbird Profile

Learn how to import Thunderbird profiles.

Thunderbird is an email program made by Mozilla. Thunderbird creates a profile folder that stores a user's email addresses, passwords, settings and contacts. These profiles can be backed up on external storage devices. They can also be imported--to recover old email settings or to move settings to a new computer. Importing Thunderbird profiles works on both Windows and Mac operating systems, and the steps involved require little computer expertise.

Instructions

1. Close Thunderbird if it is open.

2. Move the profile folder you want to import onto your computer's hard disk.

3. Open the Windows Start menu. Select "Run."

4. Type "%AppData%" in the dialog box and press "Enter."

5. Open the "Thunderbird" folder, then the "Profiles" folder.

6. Copy the imported profile folder into the "Profiles" folder.

7. Navigate back to the "Thunderbird" folder. Open "profiles.ini" in a text editor such as Notepad.

8. Find the name of your imported profile in the text file. Change the text next to "Path =" to the location of your profile.

9. Change the number next to "IsRelative =" from 1 to 0. Save "profiles.ini" and close the text editor.

10. Launch Thunderbird and you should see your new profile.

Tips & Warnings

• The "%AppData%" shortcut only works on the Windows Vista, XP and 2000 operating systems. If you have Windows 95, 98 or ME, navigate to "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data." If you have a Mac operating system, navigate to "~/Library."

• Here's an example of a profile location in Windows: "C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default"

• To backup profiles for future use, simply copy any desired profile folder within the collective "Profiles" folder and save it to an external storage device.

References

• Mozilla Thunderbird Support: How to Manage Profiles