Where did you install Firefox from? Help Mozilla uncover 3rd party websites that offer problematic Firefox installation by taking part in our campaign. There will be swag, and you'll be featured in our blog if you manage to report at least 10 valid reports!

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Can I copy existing TBird to new computer?

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by david

Victoria-nola
Victoria-nola
more options

I would like to be able to copy all of my current TBird (profile, settings, add-ons, folders, content etc) to new computer. Is that possible, and if so, can you tell me step by step how to do it? Been using TBird about 15 years but am not a programmer or tech person. I use the POP format, IMAP just doesn't work for me.

Copying from very old HP laptop Windows 10 64-bit to refurb Dell desktop, Win 11 Home, 64Bit. Please let me know if more info is needed.

Thank you for your time, Victoria

I would like to be able to copy all of my current TBird (profile, settings, add-ons, folders, content etc) to new computer. Is that possible, and if so, can you tell me step by step how to do it? Been using TBird about 15 years but am not a programmer or tech person. I use the POP format, IMAP just doesn't work for me. Copying from very old HP laptop Windows 10 64-bit to refurb Dell desktop, Win 11 Home, 64Bit. Please let me know if more info is needed. Thank you for your time, Victoria

Chosen solution

First, be sure that thunderbird is NOT running on old PC, as that may cause some files to not be copied Second, copy c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird to a USB stick Third, install Thunderbird on new computer and exit Four, copy the USB folder to c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird on new computer (there will be a prompt to overwrite files. Allow.) Five, start thunderbird on new PC

If you cannot 'see' those folders, click View>Show>hiddenitems from within Windows File Explorer on both PCs.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (3)

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Chosen Solution

First, be sure that thunderbird is NOT running on old PC, as that may cause some files to not be copied Second, copy c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird to a USB stick Third, install Thunderbird on new computer and exit Four, copy the USB folder to c:\users\<yourid>\appdata\roaming\thunderbird on new computer (there will be a prompt to overwrite files. Allow.) Five, start thunderbird on new PC

If you cannot 'see' those folders, click View>Show>hiddenitems from within Windows File Explorer on both PCs.

Victoria-nola
Victoria-nola Question owner
more options

Hi David. Thank you very much for your clear instructions. It's worked and I'm up and running.

I did have a complication in that the newest version of TB is not yet compatible with a crucial Add-on for me, but I was able to uninstall everything and install the same version as I'm currently using on my old machine. I went back through the steps, which included deleting the material from the new machine that I had copied over, because once the newest version had installed, the profiles were no longer compatible to go backward to the version I wanted to return to. I had to do this in the past and it was very complicated, but having a copy on my external HD made it simple to start over with the good files from the old machine. It's really important to understand that when a person does an upgrade with TBird, it is possible that the Add-ons are not yet up to date. I prefer to wait on major upgrades as a result.

I'm mentioning this in case someone else comes to this answer and finds themselves in this position.

Again, thank you very much for your timely and cogent reply.

Sincerely, --Victoria

P.S. Directions from "Support" to find an old version of TBird: A possible solution is to manually edit the Mozilla Firefox download link: For example: Version 78.13.0 / Windows 64bit / en-US https://download.mozilla.org/?product=thunderbird-78.13.0-SSL&os=win64&lang=en-US

I copied the link into my browser, then edited the version number to match exactly. I got the version number I needed from my old computer, within TBird: Help/About This downloaded the version I needed.

david
david
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

You're welcome. I'm glad you worked through the addons.