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

Recover Thunderbird Local Folder

  • 17 cavab
  • 1 has this problem
  • 17 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

more options

How to recover "Local Folder"

Hi,

It is the second time that the following happens to me: I updated Thunderbird 68 to 78 and all my datas are lost, especially e-mails, calendars and local folders.

I do not worry about my e-mail (which are on the provider's server Imap), or my calendars (which are on my phone), but I really worry about my local folders, as I do not have any back-up of the e-mails located in this folder.

Could you please help me to recover the local folder and all the e-mails in it?

Thanks.

'''How to recover "Local Folder"''' Hi, It is the second time that the following happens to me: I updated Thunderbird 68 to 78 and all my datas are lost, especially e-mails, calendars and local folders. I do not worry about my e-mail (which are on the provider's server Imap), or my calendars (which are on my phone), but I really worry about my local folders, as I do not have any back-up of the e-mails located in this folder. Could you please help me to recover the local folder and all the e-mails in it? Thanks.

All Replies (17)

more options

Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles. What is the name of the current, default profile, and are there any other profiles listed?

more options

Hi sfhowes,

Thanks for your reply.

I changed the "default-release" to "default-release-4".

Here are the profiles and the Root directories (I tried different options when I went back from Thunderbird 78 to 68): default-release C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\jiadlfzr.default-release (possible to click on "Open folder") default-release-1 C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\7a3feiyj.default-release-1 (not possible to click on "Open folder" - does not appear in the Profiles files) default-release-2 C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\tqn6v37n.default-release-2 (not possible to click on "Open folder" - does not appear in the Profiles files) default-release-3 C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\2vw0iicp.default-release-3 (possible to click on "Open folder") default-release-4 C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\5qn72hut.default-release-4 (possible to click on "Open folder") default-release-5 C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\6fnaa5cv.default-release-5 (possible to click on "Open folder")

I think that I could save (but I am not sure) the initial profile before the move 68 -> 78 -> 68: dbklni8d.default-release-1 I did a copy/paste with this file dbklni8d.default-release-1 in the Profiles file. So the latter appears in C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles but not in Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profiles -> about:profiles

And finally, if I open each of the profile files that I find in C:\Users\RezaM\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ the dates inside each files are different: jiadlfzr.default-release some files dates back to September 2019 7a3feiyj.default-release-1 does not appear tqn6v37n.default-release-2 does not appear 2vw0iicp.default-release-3 some files dates back to September 2019 qn72hut.default-release-4 all dates 27 or 28 February 2021 6fnaa5cv.default-release-5 all dates 27 or 28 February 2021 dbklni8d.default-release-1 some files dates back to September 2019

Thanks again for your help.

Modified by Prince of Persepolis

more options

Look in the Mail and ImapMail folders of the non-current profile folders, and then in subfolders for the accounts, e.g. Mail/pop.gmail.com or ImapMail/imap.mail.yahoo.com, as well as Mail/Local Folders, for the mbox files - large files with no extension, named after folders. Copy the mbox files (renaming if necessary) to Mail/Local Folders of the current profile. When TB restarts, the folders should appear under Local Folders in the Folder Pane.

more options

The very good news is: I have found the Local Folders and the ImapMail ;) It is located in the jiadlfzr.default-release

I set that one as the default profile and when I restart Thunderbird, I get the message "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible"  :(

I did a "mbox" search on the HDD and the system did not find any file called like this.

Modified by Prince of Persepolis

more options

Don't change the default profile from what it already was. Just copy the mbox files to Mail/Local Folders in the working, default profile.

You won't find 'mbox' by Windows search.

more options

So what should I do now that I changed the default profile and that I am unable to open Thunderbird?

What is "mb" and how am I going to find it?

more options

Press Windowskey+R, type thunderbird.exe -p to open Profile Manager, select the correct profile, or create a new one.

The mbox files are described in my earlier reply.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders#Find_the_mail_folders

more options

Hi sfhowes,

You are a champion! All the files are back in my Local folder! THANK YOU!! I don't know how to thank you!

Can I change a profile name? For instance from default-release-9 to default-release?

How can I do now to recover the To do list? And the calendar?

more options

Profile names can be changed in Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles.

If you launch the profile that has the calendar and To do list (from about:profiles), export the calendar and list, then import them in the new profile. If it's a network calendar, add it in the new profile and then sync with the online calendar.

more options

I have found so many different profile: Users -> RezaM -> AppData -> Local -> Thunderbird -> Profiles: 7 different profiles Users -> RezaM -> AppData -> Roaming -> Thunderbird -> Profiles: 6 different profiles And they are not the same: which one are the correct ones?

more options

I can't say which is the 'correct' one. Look at the dates, and once you have a working profile, set it as Default.

more options

In an old profile, how does a To do file looks like?

And how can I transfer the data in the new profile?

more options

If the To do list is part of an add-on, you'll have to find out from the add-on author. If it's a list of tasks in a calendar, look in the calendar-data subfolder of the profile. I think local.sqlite is the relevant file.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Thunderbird

more options

I think that I got it: in one of the profiles, there is a "calendar-data" in which there is a "local.sqlite" a "calendar-data.sbd" in which there is an empty "local.sqlite" and a "local.sqlite.msf"

The problem is that this profile does not appear in about:profiles

Can I copy/paste these in the new profile?

Modified by Prince of Persepolis

more options

The calendar-data folder is just part of the profile, so it doesn't appear in about:profiles.

Back up the current calendar-data folder and copy in the other one.

more options

I did the procedure you describe and could not find the Todolist. The procedure you describe is to find the calendar.

The Todolist I am looking for is not part of the Calendar.

The "todolist" is delivered together with Thunderbird and I can not find the old one: where is it located please?

Thanks for your help

Modified by Prince of Persepolis

more options

If you were using the Todo.txt add-on to connect with the Todo app, I can't say where the data is stored. Perhaps look in the extensions subfolder of the profile folder. It looks like the add-on is not completely updated for TB 78.