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Thunderbird 78.7 isn't seeing my account, emails, calendar, contacts, etc I copied to profile.

Phil Reinie
Phil Reinie
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I copied my Thunderbird folder from my Library on my other Mac, but when I open Thunderbird it doesn't seem to see it. Instead, it acts like no email account has been set up.

See the uploaded image.

The "Set up your existing email address" pop up doesn't let me edit any field. Only the Cancel button works.

I've tried copying both just the alphanum.default profile folder and the entire Thunderbird folder and opening Thunderbird still acts the same as above.

And, yes, Thunderbird is Quit both before copying (older Mac) the folder and when pasting (Mac OS 10.12 - Sierra) the folder.

Any ideas, other things I can try?

I copied my Thunderbird folder from my Library on my other Mac, but when I open Thunderbird it doesn't seem to see it. Instead, it acts like no email account has been set up. See the uploaded image. The "Set up your existing email address" pop up doesn't let me edit any field. Only the Cancel button works. I've tried copying both just the alphanum.default profile folder and the entire Thunderbird folder and opening Thunderbird still acts the same as above. And, yes, Thunderbird is Quit both before copying (older Mac) the folder and when pasting (Mac OS 10.12 - Sierra) the folder. Any ideas, other things I can try?
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Well I would not have expected that updating the old Mac's TBird from 76.x.x to 78.7.1 would have done anything, after all, moving the TBird folder from a PC or Linux which likely don't have the same version (or do they?) is possible and works, but upgrading the old Mac and moving the file to the new Mac (both now with same TBird version) let the new Mac see all the emails.

Thank you Toad-Hall for the tip. It worked. (Assuming I didn't do anything wrong in previous attempts.)

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All Replies (2)

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Did you have the same version of Thunderbird on old mac as on new mac ? Is version 78.7.1 running on both computers ? If no, can you update the old mac to a current version eg: 78.7.1 Make sure new mac is running same version 78.7.1

Then Exit Thunderbird and perform copy paste of Thunderbird folder.

Please post info/results.

Phil Reinie
Phil Reinie Question owner
more options

Chosen Solution

Well I would not have expected that updating the old Mac's TBird from 76.x.x to 78.7.1 would have done anything, after all, moving the TBird folder from a PC or Linux which likely don't have the same version (or do they?) is possible and works, but upgrading the old Mac and moving the file to the new Mac (both now with same TBird version) let the new Mac see all the emails.

Thank you Toad-Hall for the tip. It worked. (Assuming I didn't do anything wrong in previous attempts.)