As described in the Profiles article, Thunderbird saves personal information such as messages, passwords and user preferences in a set of files called a "profile", which is stored in a separate location from the Thunderbird program files.

When you first install Thunderbird it creates a profile called "default", and this profile is used automatically. However, you can create additional profiles, each with their own set of account configurations, messages, etc. (Note, each profile can access multiple email accounts.)

The Profile Manager is used to create and delete profiles, and to select the profile to use for a Thunderbird session.

Starting the Profile Manager

The Profile Manager is not displayed by default. Instead, you must start Thunderbird with a "switch" that makes the Profile Manager appear:

If the Profile Manager window does not open, Thunderbird may have been running in the background, even though it was not visible. Close all instances of Thunderbird or restart the computer and then try again.

Creating a profile

To create a new profile, click the Create Profile... button. After specifying a name for the profile, you may also specify a custom location for the profile folder (or click FinishDone to use the default location).

Renaming a profile

To rename a profile, highlight the profile in the Choose User Profile window and select Rename Profile.... Give the profile a new name and click OK.

Deleting a profile

To delete a profile, highlight the profile in the Choose User Profile window and select Delete Profile.... Click Don't Delete Files if you only want to remove the profile from the list but keep its files. Click Delete Files to permanently delete the profile and all its data.

Creating Profile Shortcuts (Windows)

You can create a shortcut to the Profile Manager or for each individual profile, allowing for a quick and easy way to open that specific profile. You can even open multiple profiles at the same time with these individual shortcuts you create. This can be very useful if you want to create a clean Thunderbird Profile, while still having easy access to your older profiles for comparison.

1. Search for Thunderbird.exe (do not hit enter)

2. Click on Open File Location.

3. Find Thunderbird.exe and right-click on it, then select Create Shortcut, allowing it to place the shortcut on the Desktop.

4. Right-click on the new Thunderbird Shortcut on the Desktop and select Properties.

5. In the Target field, go to the very end and add -P "TheProfileName", then click Apply. The whole line should look something like this;

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" - P "new-gmail"

6. Click the General tab and give the shortcut a NEW name related to the profile, then press OK.

This shortcut should now open the specific profile. You can copy and paste that shortcut, then edit the pasted shortcut by following steps 4 - 6 again to set it up to open another profile independently, even simultaneously with other profiles open.

Options

Work Offline

Choosing this option loads the selected profile and starts Thunderbird without connecting to the Internet. You can view messages saved to your computer and experiment with your profile.

Don't ask at startupUse the selected profile without asking at startup

When you have multiple profiles, this option tells Thunderbird what to do at startup:

• If you check this option, Thunderbird will automatically load the selected profile at startup. To access other profiles, you must start the Profile Manager first.
• If you uncheck this option, Thunderbird will show you the Profile Manager each time you start it, so that you can select a profile to use.

See also

See the Profiles article for information about locating the profile data files on a file system and making backups.