From MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Importing via Eudora: user testimonials

To import from Thunderbird to Outlook, the only step which worked for me was the following:

• Move files from Thunderbird directory to Eudora and rename .mbx
• Access the folders in Eudora, Exit Eudora
• Import from Eudora to Outlook Express, Exit OE
• Import from Outlook Express to Outlook

Removing the .msf files in Netscape did not work, it just created new .msf files as soon as opened in Netscape Mail.

Quite a hassel, but after some hours I figured it out. Hope someone can review and correct the instructions.

Testimonial: the Eudora instructions did NOT work: eudora generated the TOC's, but screwed up all multi-part MIME emails, with file attachments or dual html and plaintext attachments. I think this is because Eudora does not use the same unix mbox format the thunderbird uses -- Eudora's is different because it strips out attachments and puts them in its own special directory. This has been noted in a number of places, for example: http://eudorabb.qualcomm.com/showthread.php?t=470

mbx2eml actually worked for me. It's very excellent if you're willing to use the command line. Using it then dragging in 5000+ emails worked like a charm, though I had to recreate each folder at a time.

has anyone else tested out the Eudora method for real-world mailboxes?

Brendan642 15:28, 28 Apr 2005 (PDT)

Using Netscape

(The following Netscape instructions were formerly in the article, but I moved it here because Netscape 7 uses the same format for mail files as Thunderbird, and it's not clear if the article means a 4.x version of Netscape. If so it should say so. If not, then the procedure seems unlikely to accomplish anything. --Wintogreen 07:17, 16 Apr 2005 (PDT))

• Get Netscape and install it.

• Go to the "Mail" directory in your Thunderbird profile folder. (If you are using the Global Inbox in Thunderbird, you will need to go to "Local Folders" inside the "Mail" folder.)

• You will find files like "Inbox" and "Inbox.msf" and various other files. Copy all these files into the Netscape Communicator's "Mail" directory. (This is located in its profile directory. On a standard Netscape install, this is in the same location as Mozilla Suite's "mail" directory in its profile folder.)

• Delete the ".msg" files from the Netscape "Mail" directory. These are just index files.

• Start Netscape and click on each folder you just imported into Netscape. This ensures Netscape will create new index files in the Netscape format for each folder.

• Close Netscape.

• Start your email client and you should now be able to import the mail files you imported into Netscape.

Other options

• Aid4Mail and MailBag Assistant

Pointing directly to individual files already possible?

http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/faq says:

Thunderbird's mail files are in the standard plain text "mbox" format, which almost all mail programs can use or import. Many proprietary mail programs have a function to import from Eudora, which also uses the "mbox" format; this function should read your Mozilla mail files properly.

Your mail files are inside your profile (see the Profile Folder), in the Mail and (if you use IMAP) ImapMail folders. Each mail folder (Inbox, Sent, etc.) is stored as two files — one with no extension (e.g. INBOX), which is the mail file itself (in "mbox" format), and one with an .msf extension (e.g. INBOX.msf), which is the index (Mail Summary File) to the mail file. Tell the other program to import mail from the file with no extension.