from an existing e-mail address to a new e-mail address.

Are you talking about different accounts? If so, the Thunderbird address book isn't assigned to a specific account.

I have been trying to copy and replace the files for the correct folder

I have no idea what you did.

You can move messages between accounts simply via drag and drop. For a larger number of messages it's recommended to select the messages to be moved - right click the selection - Move To.

it does not load the appropriate information.

What is the appropriate information? Please be more specific.

Thanks for you reply! I see how you can copy/move e-mails from one account to another.

Here is what I did for the folders: I created a new folder destination and pointed the local directory in the server settings to that location. Then, I copied the .msf and other files from one account to the new folder I created for the new account. When I restart Thunderbird though, it just recreates those files. I am assuming it is basing it on what it's retrieving from the server itself.

I guess to make everything clearer, I will highlight the problem that I am trying to solve right now. The situation is this: We have our e-mails hosted by a certain platform. They will be closing down soon and so I am trying to back up the data from those emails through Thunderbird. As we move on to a new platform, we will be creating fresh e-mail addresses. What I'd like to do is take the data from those previous accounts and copy them over to the to-be-created ones. My assumption was that I can do this by copy pasting the information in the folder for one account to another.

So, for example, I have a folder under ImapMail called TEST which contains all the data from my current e-mail. Upon connecting a new account, a new folder called TEST2 will be generated. I assumed it was as easy has copying the files under TEST and replacing the existing ones in TEST2 with the copied files.. but that does not seem to work.

I hope this makes things clearer. Please let me know if I can provide more information to help. Thanks again!

pointed the local directory in the server settings to that location.

Unless you know exactly what you're doing, please stop messing with the 'Local Directory' setting.

I assumed it was as easy has copying the files under TEST and replacing the existing ones in TEST2 with the copied files.

I don't think I follow what you did.

I hope this makes things clearer.

In brief, are you trying to carry over messages from one IMAP account to another one?

I am trying to back up the data from those emails through Thunderbird.

To backup messages from an IMAP account move (or copy) them to your 'Local Folders' account.

You can then move them to the new IMAP server from there.

From what I've read online, changing the Local Directory settings allows you to specify a certain folder to where your data will be saved to. Because I'd wanted to know an easy way to locate this and be able to move it around, if I can, I changed the destination. That can easily be undone if it proves to be a problem, though.

Yes, I am trying to carry over information from one IMAP account to another one, not just messages. I'd like to be able to have the address book and other information as well. I've dealt with Outlook before and it was as easy as replacing the files in the new account folder or adding in new ones. I'm wondering if that is the same for Thunderbird. If so, how do I go about doing it?

the Local Directory settings allows you to specify a certain folder to where your data will be saved to.

That is correct. As said before, unless you have a good reason for this, and you know exactly what you're doing, I strongly advise not to mess with this setting.

I am trying to carry over information from one IMAP account to another one

You can do this via drag and drop as described above. If you have access to both, the old and the new IMAP account you don't need the extra step via Local Folders.

I'd like to be able to have the address book and other information as well.

I don't see how this is related to carrying over messages from one IMAP account to another.

I am trying to move all the information from an old account on to the new one, not just the messages. That includes the e-mails, the address book, and other information. I am doing this because currently, our e-mails are hosted by a certain platform. Those are gonna get disabled soon.

I will recreate those same emails under a different platform and I want all the information from the previous e-mail on to the newly created one. Is that possible through Thunderbird? Thanks for your help!

Address books, in Thunderbird, are not specific to any particular email address/account.

If your addresses are stored elsewhere, e.g. Google Contacts, then you need to look to the environment they are stored in for tools or methods to move them.

Most address books offer export to (and import from) CSV files. You can import these CSV ("comma separated values") files into Thunderbird too.

You can also synchronize Thunderbird's Address Book to certain online address books. There are several add-ons to allow a Google Contacts address book to be linked to Thunderbird; I use gContactSync.

Hmm. I see. Just to make things clear, Thunderbird has a collection of addresses in and of itself. Say I have 5 accounts connected to Thunderbird, will the address book contain all of the addresses linked to those accounts? Or are the addresses in Thunderbird's address book manually added by the user at a certain point in time?

Thanks for all the help!

Or are the addresses in Thunderbird's address book manually added by the user at a certain point in time?

You got it.

What leads you to think that any of the address books are linked to any specific account?

I am new to Thunderbird and I assumed that all the information from the e-mail will be reflected in Thunderbird whenever I connect my account. :( That is a fault on my end. Sorry!

Perfect. Are there any other ways to move messages besides drag and drop or the right-click move or copy to option?

Are there any other ways to move messages

Not sure what else you expect. I'd suggest you just give it a try. Start with a single message.

I'm just thinking of playing around with the files itself rather than moving messages but that does not seem to be a good route to go. Thanks for the help again!