Moving from Thunderbird in Windows to Thunderbird in Linux

I would like to move all of my numerous mail configurations from Thunderbird in Windows to Thunderbird on MandrakeLinux (now Mandriva) 10.1 Official. I have tried copying the profile files but that doesn't seem to work as it says they are in use or something along those lines.

The main reason for doing this is that I have a lot of mail accounts and filtering rules that are a pain to setup again. Thunderbird needs an "Import/Export Settings" tool.

Does anyone have any ideas about doing this?

Did you try tools -> import You may need to convert the files into something thunderbird can use.I have never done it before just guessing?

http://www.mozilla.org/support/

try there. i am not sure you can move the data from a windows system to a linux box. the data is stored differently no?

Just thought I'd dig this up again.

In Windows XP I copied the files from here:
C:\Documents and Settings\OneSeventeen\Application Data\Thunderbird

And in linux I moved those files here:
/home/oneseventeen/.mozilla-thunderbird/

(I moved the files that were already in the linux folder into a new folder named "old")

Now, when I open up thunderbird, I see all my email accounts, old emails, local stuff, etc.

I was actually pretty impressed with how well this works!!!

(I found this tip in an issue of Maximum PC where their editor switched for 6 months)

From what I remember from switching it all over ages ago, you need to re-create mail rules + re-install extensions when moving the profile from Windows to Linux, and also set the mail files + folders to be writeable otherwise you can't use the same folders. When moving between Linux systems, it handles all this for you. I'd agree if would be nice for Thunderbird to be able to import it's own settings - it does Outlook, Eudora, etc. but not itself! There is a tool floating around to backup + restore you profile that can be found on the Mozilla forums, but it only works for Windows at the moment last time I checked.

Originally posted by OneSeventeen Just thought I'd dig this up again. In Windows XP I copied the files from here: C:\Documents and Settings\OneSeventeen\Application Data\Thunderbird And in linux I moved those files here: /home/oneseventeen/.mozilla-thunderbird/ (I moved the files that were already in the linux folder into a new folder named "old") Now, when I open up thunderbird, I see all my email accounts, old emails, local stuff, etc. I was actually pretty impressed with how well this works!!! (I found this tip in an issue of Maximum PC where their editor switched for 6 months)

good to know that all you needed to do was copy the data from one box to the other. glad it is written in something that is universal, guess i should of figured that seeing how good the mozilla project it anyways

:P

cheers on the find/fix/work-around from moving from MS to linux.

Hi,

I'm jumping in on this, slightly off thread - but only slightly.

I'm doing similar - moving from XP to Linux and wanting to move my XP Thunderbird mailboxes to Mandriva LE 2005. I eventually sorted everything out, trouble is, I don't know where Thunderbird is and how to use it. I've got it, and loaded it, but don't know where it is. Please don't assume I know what I'm doing. 37 years, IBM, ICL, HONEYWELL,DIGITAL, then child computers (IBM Desktops). I won't mention the W word. My old brain is very tired. I've installed Thunderbird, but I don't know where. I accepted the defaults and I don't know to how to start it. Iknow it sounds stupid, bu how do I find where Thunderbrird is and how to use it as my Email default.

Assume no knowledge - Please

Thunderbird makes a folder in home. If you click to show hidden folders - you will see it.

You can also use the same folders with both. That way all of your messages are kept in sync. That is if your Windows is formatted with Fat32 and not NTFS. You can point your Linux version to use the folders on your Windows partition.
Mine is located here:
/mnt/hda1/Documents and Settings/Michael/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/6n19hk3s.default/Mail file:///mnt/hda1/Documents and Settings/Michael/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/6n19hk3s.default/Mail

Hi there.

Thanks for the tip about the hidden folder. That's a bit sneaky isn't it? I was following all the instructions and unzipped the tar to home tmp, then clicked on 'Thunderbird' and the screen flashed a few times, then Thunderbird loaded, but I couldn't find anything beyond what I'd unzipped. I thought it was going to doing a compile or something exotic. I'm guessing that all you have to do to install Thunderbird is unzip the tarball and there it is, all ready to go. No compilations or anything. I was looking for an exe or something to run from a desktop shortcut but it seemed I had to "reinstall" Thunderbird everytime I used it. I guess I'd better put the unzipped files somewhere safer than my home tmp. Also, thanks for the info about picking up the Thunderbird XP Inbox.

Cheers,

KenMac

Originally posted by OneSeventeen In Windows XP I copied the files from here: C:\Documents and Settings\OneSeventeen\Application Data\Thunderbird And in linux I moved those files here: /home/oneseventeen/.mozilla-thunderbird/ (I moved the files that were already in the linux folder into a new folder named "old") Now, when I open up thunderbird, I see all my email accounts, old emails, local stuff, etc. [/B]

This worked great once I manually changed some windows paths in chrome.rdf

Thanks for the good advice.

Originally Posted by pnh73 I would like to move all of my numerous mail configurations from Thunderbird in Windows to Thunderbird on MandrakeLinux (now Mandriva) 10.1 Official. I have tried copying the profile files but that doesn't seem to work as it says they are in use or something along those lines. The main reason for doing this is that I have a lot of mail accounts and filtering rules that are a pain to setup again. Thunderbird needs an "Import/Export Settings" tool. Does anyone have any ideas about doing this?

This is what I've just done from XP to Ubuntu
1 Create your mail accounts in THunderbird on Linux machine.
2 Copy folders and files in 'Mail' folder on Windows to 'Mail" folder on Linux.
3 Mail folder is in each Thunderbird profile. Google will answer that.

4 In Linux Thunderbird account options, change folder location to one of the copied folders.
5 Once all changed close Thunderbird.
6 Job done.
Next time you open Thunderbird all your mail is there.
Now setup filters and install extensions, copy across address book.
File paths are different between Linux and XP, hence filters won't work.
HTH

Hey guys,

I know this is an old thread, but...this is how you move from Windows to Linux. First, you go into your Thunderbird folder, which could be c:\Documents and Settings\<username>\ApplicationData\Thunderbird, or maybe C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird. Copy out the profiles.ini file, and the folder which name ends in .default! Move these files into the Thunderbird directory on Linux (BACKUP THE PROFILES.INI FILE ON LINUX FIRST), and then go through the files in the .default directory, and change all of the file paths to be correct for Linux. This -should- allow you to open up your Thunderbird on linux having your mail settings and filters...however, expect errors if Windows had any extensions that your Linux installation of Thunderbird doesn't.

I want to move all my E-mails from Ubuntu machine to some other machine.
So I've a li'le bit idea of importing but anybody please let me know that in my Linux machine, where all these mails would be stored ? I am asking some "default" storage location for my E-mail accounts

Hi,

I migrated form Windows XP to openSUSE 11.4 yesterday, and I wanted to migrate my Thunderbird mail/extension/plugin/... etc setting as well.

You should follow these steps:

1) All Thunderbird sessions must be closed in Linux! Open Thunderbird profile manager by running this command "thunderbird -p" in konzole and create new/default profile. I had none before. I created "same name" profile folder in linux as in windows XP (I mean name of folder used in win XP was same as in Linux)
2) Make sure you can see hidden files. You can locate your thunderbird directory in Linux here: /home/name_of_user/.thunderbird. Change setting of profile.ini file if necessary - might be necessary in case you created some mail profiles before
3) Copy your profile folder form Windows XP to your newly created profile directory in linux. Rewrite all files.
4) Open thunderbird Does it work? It worked for me

Good luck!

Do you know any other way?