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.

What folders do I need to backup in order to include Thunderbird emails received on my pc?

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

mcgheebwm
mcgheebwm
more options

I am setting up google backup on my pc. I need to select the folders for it to backup continuously. What folders are holding thunderbird emails? I have numerous folders in thunderbird into which I drag emails that I want to save. I don't know whether all thunderbird emails are in one folder or multiple folders. I don't know where the basic root folder is. I don't see anything under OS or documents, etc. with a name that looks like thunderbird or Mozilla.

I am setting up google backup on my pc. I need to select the folders for it to backup continuously. What folders are holding thunderbird emails? I have numerous folders in thunderbird into which I drag emails that I want to save. I don't know whether all thunderbird emails are in one folder or multiple folders. I don't know where the basic root folder is. I don't see anything under OS or documents, etc. with a name that looks like thunderbird or Mozilla.

Chosen solution

Select Help/Troubleshooting Information, click Open Folder to open the profile folder in Windows Explorer. There you will see Mail and ImapMail subfolders. The Mail folder contains a Local Folders subfolder and subfolders containing mail for POP accounts; ImapMail the same for IMAP accounts. In all of these folders there are mbox files with no extension and like-named index msf files. The mbox files contain the mail, but since they make up the vast majority of the total size of the profile, you may as well backup the entire profile folder, or better, the Thunderbird folder (it contains the Profiles folder, which contains the profile folder), which is easier to restore.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (1)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Chosen Solution

Select Help/Troubleshooting Information, click Open Folder to open the profile folder in Windows Explorer. There you will see Mail and ImapMail subfolders. The Mail folder contains a Local Folders subfolder and subfolders containing mail for POP accounts; ImapMail the same for IMAP accounts. In all of these folders there are mbox files with no extension and like-named index msf files. The mbox files contain the mail, but since they make up the vast majority of the total size of the profile, you may as well backup the entire profile folder, or better, the Thunderbird folder (it contains the Profiles folder, which contains the profile folder), which is easier to restore.