0

I read "How do I back up Thunderbird emails?" from here.

How can I use it again when the account will be deleted from Thunderbird or change the operating system?

  • 1
    To restore (or move your email settings & mails to another system, newly installed etc) simply copy the whole backed-up .thunderbird folder to ~/. Even extensions like Lightning will be available again. – Jacob Vlijm Dec 04 '15 at 11:42

1 Answers1

4

The folder ~/.thunderbird includes everything you need. It includes emails, accounts, settings, (email-) passwords etc. If you simply backup the folder regularly, you can simply copy it back to your newly installed system, into ~/ (which is your home directory, /home/yourname).

Even the installed extensions, add-ons etc. will be available instantly in most cases, with no other action but simply copying back the (whole) backed-up ~/.thunderbird -folder into ~/.

Couldn't be easier :)

Jacob Vlijm
  • 83,767
  • Thanks for answer but i am unable to access my mails. Please tell how i can access my mail? – Puneet Dixit Dec 04 '15 at 12:26
  • 1
    @puneetDixit Not sure what you mean, if you copy ~/.thunderbird from old to new install, all your mails will be available. Just run thunderbird and it will be like you used to use it. – Jacob Vlijm Dec 04 '15 at 12:29
  • Oh sorry! it was my fault. It is simple but i think it has a security risk that if anyone can find my backup folder he can access my emails while in outlook he must have the password of the mail. – Puneet Dixit Dec 04 '15 at 12:43
  • @puneetDixit Well, yes, but the password is in the local folder. Backups should be in a more or less secure location (of course : ) ) depending on how sensitive the information is. – Jacob Vlijm Dec 04 '15 at 12:45
  • I found my answer for which i am looking. Thanks very much Mr. Jacob. – Puneet Dixit Dec 04 '15 at 13:07