Export mail into Outlook (Express) or Apple Mail: Difference between revisions

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* download and install Netscape communicator V4.7 from [http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/archive47x.jsp Get Netscape]. Do not run Netscape yet!
* download and install Netscape communicator V4.7 from [http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/archive47x.jsp Get Netscape]. Do not run Netscape yet!


* 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.)
* Go to the "Mail" directory in your Thunderbird [[Profile folder - Thunderbird|profile folder]]. (If you are using the [[Global Inbox]] in Thunderbird, you will need to go to "Local Folders" inside the "Mail" folder.)


* Get Thunderbird's mail files (the ones which have no filename extension, such as "Inbox"). Copy them to the message folder of Netscape Communicator. You can find this folder in Netscape Messenger under Edit->Preferences-> Mail & Group News -> Mail Servers. Do not copy the .msf files!
* Get Thunderbird's mail files (the ones which have no filename extension, such as "Inbox"). Copy them to the message folder of Netscape Communicator. You can find this folder in Netscape Messenger under Edit->Preferences-> Mail & Group News -> Mail Servers. Do not copy the .msf files!
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* [http://www.eudora.com/download/ Get Eudora] (there is a freeware Light version) and install it.  
* [http://www.eudora.com/download/ Get Eudora] (there is a freeware Light version) 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.)
* Go to the "Mail" directory in your Thunderbird [[Profile folder - Thunderbird|profile folder]]. (If you are using the [[Global Inbox]] in Thunderbird, you will need to go to "Local Folders" inside the "Mail" folder.)


* Get Thunderbird's mail files (the ones which have no filename extension, such as "Inbox"). Copy them to a new location and then rename them to have an ".mbx" extension. For example, "Inbox" should become "Inbox.mbx".
* Get Thunderbird's mail files (the ones which have no filename extension, such as "Inbox"). Copy them to a new location and then rename them to have an ".mbx" extension. For example, "Inbox" should become "Inbox.mbx".

Revision as of 02:42, 8 June 2007

Apple Mail, Outlook Express, and Outlook cannot recognize Thunderbird's mailbox files in order to import them. If you try to import the mailbox files, you may get an error message such as "Import Error—The mail folder could not be opened. If another application is using this file, please close it and try again."

Below are some ways you can export your Thunderbird e-mail into Apple Mail, Outlook and Outlook Express based on actual users' experiences. Before trying any of these methods, it is recommeded that you first try to get rid of all special characters in the names of mailbox folders (for example, "@", commas, and so forth). Otherwise, you might run into trouble later and might not get error messages even if something wrong does occur during the import process.

If and only if you have a small number of messages in your Inbox, you may also just select each message individually and click "File -> Save As -> File" so that the e-mail is now saved with an .eml extension, which you can then import into Outlook/Outlook Express or most other e-mail clients. If all else fails, you can still open the file with any text editor such as KWrite, gedit, or Notepad.

Using Netscape Communicator V4.7

You can use Netscape Communicator V4.7 to export email folders to Outlook(Express). Follow the following steps:

  • download and install Netscape communicator V4.7 from Get Netscape. Do not run Netscape yet!
  • 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.)
  • Get Thunderbird's mail files (the ones which have no filename extension, such as "Inbox"). Copy them to the message folder of Netscape Communicator. You can find this folder in Netscape Messenger under Edit->Preferences-> Mail & Group News -> Mail Servers. Do not copy the .msf files!
 You can also use the MBOX autosave extension in Thunderbird to save your folders: Get MBOX Autosave
  • Start Netscape Messenger
  • Now all folders will be loaded by Netscape. In order to have them ready for export, you should open/view the folders one by one. This way, Netscape creates the index .snm files.
  • Now start Outlook Express and use the import message function: File->Import Messages->Netscape Communicator and select the location again where Netscape stores it mailfolders. All messages will be imported perfectly.
  • From Outlook you can now import again from Outlook Express


Using Eudora

You can try importing your Thunderbird mail into Eudora, and then importing into your other mail client from there. Note, however, that some users have reported that Eudora actually will not properly import Thunderbird messages with attachments or rich text formatting. (See this page for user discussion.)

  • Get Eudora (there is a freeware Light version) 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.)
  • Get Thunderbird's mail files (the ones which have no filename extension, such as "Inbox"). Copy them to a new location and then rename them to have an ".mbx" extension. For example, "Inbox" should become "Inbox.mbx".
  • Make sure Eudora is closed. Find its profile folder (on a default install on Windows, it is at C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora) and copy the newly renamed Thunderbird mail files to that folder.
  • Now open Eudora and access all the folders you just copied. This makes Eudora create the ".toc" index files that Apple Mail, Outlook Express, and Outlook look for in the import process.
  • If you still experience trouble importing using Outlook, you should try importing the Eudora ".mbx" files into Outlook Express and then into Outlook.


NOTE: Because of differences between Eudora .mbox and Thunderbird's .mbox, all attachments will be lost by using this method

Special software

You could also use third-party utilities such as mbox2eml, mailbag assistant, Aid4mail, IMAPSize, or mbx2eml to create EML files and then drag and drop them into Outlook Express (plain Outlook won't work). The Thunderbird AutoSave extension can also be used to save an entire folder as individual EML files [1].

Using IMAP

If you have an IMAP server available, create a new account on it, recreate your local folder structure as best you can (IMAP clients usually require every folder to be a subfolder of Inbox), then copy the contents of each of your local folders over to its pair on the IMAP account. Now create a new IMAP account in Outlook and point it to the one you've been working with. Once you can see it, again create your folder structure and copy your messages into Outlook's folders.

This method loses at least the 'replied to' flag, unfortunately. This seems to be Thunderbird's fault, as it doesn't add the flag to the messages as it copies them to the IMAP server.

See also