Thunderbird Pc

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  • Mar 09, 2021 Mozilla Thunderbird is a free email program that offers a range of options for PC users without access to robust paid software like Microsoft Outlook. Allowing you to integrate multiple mailboxes.
  • Mozilla Thunderbird is the safe, fast email client that's easy to use. It has lots of great features including quick message search, customizable views, support for IMAP/POP, RSS support and more.
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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. While it is possible to have multiple profiles, most users just use the single default (see Using Multiple Profiles for more information).

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Table of Contents

  • 2Where is my profile stored?
  • 3How to find your profile
  • 5Restoring a profile backup

In Thunderbird, the profile stores two main sets of items. First, it stores your local mail, and possibly copies of messages that reside on the mail server (depending on your account configuration). Second, it stores any changes you make while using Thunderbird (for example, changes to account settings and changes to the toolbar).

When you install Thunderbird it creates a profile called 'default'. This profile will be used automatically unless you invoke the Profile Manager and create a new profile.

Profile files are stored separately from the Thunderbird program files. The program files are static and do not change (except when you upgrade the Thunderbird application version). Because we store profile and program files separately, you can uninstall Thunderbird without losing your messages and settings, and if something goes wrong with a Thunderbird update your information will still be available. It also means that you don't have to reinstall Thunderbird in order to delete your information or troubleshoot a problem.

Each profile is stored on your hard drive in a profile folder. The folder is named using the following convention:

<random_string>.<profile_name>

...where '<random_string>' is eight digits randomly generated by Thunderbird and '<profile_name>' is the name you assigned to the profile. The location of the folder will vary according to the operating system (and whether or not you specified a non-default location when you created the profile):

Profile Location Summary

%APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfilesxxxxxxxx.default

  • %APPDATA% is shorthand for the 'C:Users<username>AppDataRoaming''C:Documents and Settings<username>Application Data' folder, which depends on your Windows user account name.

~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/

  • The tilde character (~) refers to the current user's Home folder, so ~/Library is the '/Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Library/' folder.
  1. Click on the menu button or menu bar.
  2. From the Help menu, click Troubleshooting Information.
  3. In the Application Basics section, Profile FolderProfile Directory, click on .
  4. The Windows ExplorerMac FinderFiles window will show the name of the profile as well as the path to it.

Finding your profile without opening Thunderbird

Thunderbird stores your profile folder in this location on your computer, by default:
'C:Users<your Windows login username>AppDataRoamingThunderbirdProfiles'
Windows hides the AppData folder by default, but you can find your profile folder as follows:

  1. Press +R on the keyboard. A Run dialog will open.
  2. Type in:
    %APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfiles
  3. Click . A window will open containing profile folders.
  4. Double-click the profile folder you wish to open. If you only have one profile, its folder would have 'default' in the name.
  1. From the Start Screen, click the Desktop tile. The Desktop view will open.
  2. From the Desktop, hover in the lower right-hand corner to access the Charms.
  3. Select the Search charm. The Search sidebar will open.
  4. In the search box, type in:
    %APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfiles
    without pressing Enter. A list of profile folders will appear.
  5. Click on the profile folder you wish to open (it will open in a window). If you only have one profile, its folder would have 'default' in the name.
  1. Click the Windows button. The Start menu will open.
  2. In the Search box at the bottom of the Start menu, type:
    %APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfiles
    without pressing Enter. A list of profiles will appear at the top of the Start menu.
  3. Click on the profile folder you wish to open (it will open in a window). If you only have a single profile, its folder would have 'default' in the name.
  • Alternatively, you can find your profile by pressing the key and then start typing: %APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfiles
Note: To set Windows to show the AppData folder and other hidden files and folders, see Show hidden files - Windows Help.
  1. Click the Windows button, and select Run….
  2. Type in:
    %APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfiles
    then click .
    A window will open containing profile folders.
  3. Double-click the profile folder you wish to open. If you only have one profile, its folder would have 'default' in the name.
  1. Click the Finder icon in the dock. On the menu bar, click the Go menu, hold down the option or alt key and select Library.
  2. Open the Thunderbird folder, and then the Profiles folder.
  3. Your profile folder is within this folder. If you only have one profile, its folder would have 'default' in the name.
  1. (Ubuntu) Click the Places menu on the top right of the screen and select Home Folder. A File Browser window will appear.
  2. Click the View menu and select Show Hidden Files if it isn't already checked.
  3. Double click the folder marked .thunderbird. Your profile folder is within this folder. If you only have one profile, its folder would have 'default' in the name.

To back up your profile, first close Thunderbird if it is open and then copy the profile folder to another location.

  1. Locate your profile folder, as explained above.
  2. Shut down Thunderbird.
  3. Go to one level above your profile's folder, i.e. to %APPDATA%ThunderbirdProfiles~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/~/.mozilla/Thunderbird/
  4. Right-clickHold down the Ctrl key while you click on your profile folder (e.g. xxxxxxxx.default), and select Copy.
  5. Right-clickHold down the Ctrl key while you click the backup location (e.g. a USB-stick or a blank CD-RW disc), and select Paste item.
  1. Shut down Thunderbird.
  2. If your existing profile folder and profile backup folder have the same name, simply replace the existing profile folder with the profile backup, then start Thunderbird.
    Important: The profile folder names must match exactly for this to work, including the random string of 8 characters. If the names do not match or if you are restoring a backup to a different location, follow the steps below.

Restoring to a different location

If the profile folder names do not match or if you want to move or restore a profile to a different location, do the following:

  1. Completely close Thunderbird, as explained above.
  2. Use the Thunderbird Profile Manager to create a new profile in your desired location, then exit the Profile Manager.
    Note: If you just installed Thunderbird on a new computer, you can use the default profile that is automatically created when you first run Thunderbird, instead of creating a new profile.
  3. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g., your USB-stick).
  4. Open the profile folder backup (e.g., the xxxxxxxx.default backup).
  5. Copy the entire contents of the profile folder backup, such as the mimeTypes.rdf file, prefs.js file, etc.
  6. Locate and open the new profile folder as explained above and then close Thunderbird (if open).
  7. Paste the contents of the backed up profile folder into the new profile folder, overwriting existing files of the same name.
  8. Start Thunderbird.

Occasionally, you might want to move a profile or tell Thunderbird to use a profile stored in another location.

  1. Shut down Thunderbird.
  2. Move the profile folder to the desired location. For example, on Windows XP, move the profile from C:Documents and Settings[username]Application DataThunderbirdProfilesxxxxxxxx.default to D:StuffMyMailProfile. (If you are reverting to a backed up profile, this step isn't necessary. Just note the current location of the profile you want to restore.)
  3. Open up the profiles.ini file in a text editor. The file is located in the application data folder for Thunderbird:
    • The path is %AppData%Thunderbird for Windows~/.thunderbird/ for Linux~/Library/Thunderbird/ for Mac OS X.
  4. In the profiles.ini file, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location.
  5. If you switch from a relative path to a non-relative path, the direction of the slashes may need to change. For example, in Windows, non-relative paths use backslashes, whereas relative ones use forward slashes. Change IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0.
  6. Save profiles.ini and restart Thunderbird.
  • Profile Manager Article on MozillaZine
  • Profile Backup Article on MozillaZine

You can connect Mozilla Thunderbird 8.0 to your email account using POP3 or IMAP4 connectivity. These instructions apply to Windows and Mac.

Note: This topic applies to Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China.

In this article

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Set up email using Mozilla Thunderbird 8.0

Thunderbird Mail Windows

  1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird. The Mail Account Setup dialog box will open the first time that you open Thunderbird. If the Mail Account Setup dialog box doesn't open, do the following:

    1. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.

    2. On the Account Settings page, under Account Actions, click Add Mail Account.

  2. In the Mail Account Setup dialog box, do the following:

    1. In the Your Name box, enter the name that you want to appear on the 'From' line in your outgoing messages.

    2. In the Email Address box, enter your email address.

    3. In the Password box, enter your password. Click Continue if you're using a Windows computer or click Next if you're using a Mac. Thunderbird will try to find the settings you need to configure for your account.

  3. Click Stop, or wait for Thunderbird to try to find your account settings. You’ll see the message: 'Thunderbird failed to find the settings for your email account.'

  4. The IMAP check box, next to Incoming, is selected by default and is recommended. In the Server hostname box, enter the name of your incoming server. If you’re connecting to your Microsoft 365 email, the IMAP or POP server name is partner.outlook.cn. If you’re not using Microsoft 365, see Find your POP3 and IMAP server settings later in this article.

    Note: Leave the Port option set to Auto. Leave the SSL and Authentication options set to Autodetect.

  5. In the Server hostname text box, next to Outgoing, enter your SMTP server name. If you’re connecting to your Microsoft 365 email, the SMTP server name is smtp.office365.cn. If you’re not using Microsoft 365, see Find your POP3 and IMAP server settings later in this article.

    Note: Leave the Port option set to Auto. Leave the SSL and Authentication options set to Autodetect.

  6. In the Username box, type your complete email address. For example, tonysmith@contoso.cn.

  7. Click the Re-test button. If you see the message 'The following settings were found by probing the given server,” click Create Account. A page opens that lets you view or change other Thunderbird settings.

    Click OK when you've finished viewing or changing the settings. If you’re unable to connect, see “What else do I need know?” later in this topic.

    Note: If you're using POP, under Server Settings, it's a good idea to select Leave messages on the server. After you select this check box, a copy of the messages you retrieve to your local computer will be kept on the server. You’ll also be able to access your messages from a different mail application.

Find your POP or IMAP server settings

If you’re connecting to your Microsoft 365 email, you don’t need to look up your settings. For Microsoft 365, the server name for IMAP and POP is partner.outlook.cn and the server name for SMTP is smtp.office365.cn.

If you’re not connecting to Microsoft 365 email, do the following to look up your settings.

  1. Sign in to your account using Outlook Web App.

  2. In Outlook Web App, on the toolbar, click Settings > Options > Account > My account > Settings for POP or IMAP access.

  3. The POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP server name and other settings you may need to enter are listed on the Settings for POP and IMAP Access page under POP setting or IMAP setting, and SMTP setting.

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What else do I need to know?

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  • If you don't know whether to use POP3 or IMAP4, consider using IMAP4 because it supports more features.

  • If your email account is the type that requires registration, you must register it the first time you sign in to Outlook Web App. Connecting to your email account through POP3 or IMAP4 will fail if you haven't registered your account through Outlook Web App. After you sign in to your account, sign out. Then try to connect using your POP3 or IMAP4 program.

  • If you’re using an incoming POP3 server, you can only synchronize your Inbox folder. If you’re using IMAP4, you can choose the folders that you want Thunderbird to synchronize with the server. Remember that IMAP4 doesn’t support the synchronization of the Contacts and Calendar folders. Thunderbird uses a folder named Sent to store sent items. Exchange and Outlook Web App use a folder named Sent Items. You can synchronize the email items that you’ve sent in Thunderbird with the Sent Items folder on the Exchange server. To do this, follow these steps:

  • In Thunderbird, in the console tree, select your email account. In the details pane, under Advanced, click Manage Folder Subscriptions. In the Subscribe dialog box, select the Sent Items check box, and then click OK.

  • In Thunderbird, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings.

  • In the navigation pane of Account Settings, select Copies & Folders for your email account.

  • In the details pane, under When sending messages, automatically, select Other. In the drop-down list, select your user name, select Sent Items, and then click OK.