Mozilla Thunderbird Mail Backup and Restore

One thing i like most with Mozilla Thunderbird is that, it is very easy to use and very flexible too. It is also very easy to backup and restore mails and settings (yes, that’s right, you can restore its settings which means no need for a reconfigure your new Thunderbird installation), which you often do when you intend to format your drive or transfer your mails to another computer.

Here’s a short guide on how to backup and restore your Mozilla Thunderbird mail the easy way.

Disclaimer: Although this guide has been tested and used in production, this site will not be held liable for any loss of emails or any damage done including loss of hair while following this guide.

Creating a mail backup

1. Open windows explorer and go to the following path.

c:\documents and settings\your-username\application data

Note: Application Data folder is hidden by default, so in the address bar just type the folder name directly.

2. You should see a couple of folders there including Thunderbird folder, copy the entire Thunderbird folder to safe partition or to a flash drive (make sure that Thunderbird is not running when you copy the folder to avoid error).

Restoring the mail backup

1. Install Mozilla Thunderbird first if it is not installed yet, after installation do not run Mozilla Thunderbird when prompted to.

2. Move or copy the backup Thunderbird folder and place in c:\documents and settings\your-username\application data. If Thunderbird folder already exist then rename the existing folder and move it again.

3. After you have finished moving the Thunderbird folder, Open the Mozilla Thunderbird. You should have a fully configured and restored mail by now.