Import from Outlook Express

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Revision as of 07:36, 27 May 2007 by Tanstaafl (talk | contribs) (changed mboximport to importexporttools)
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This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ).

There are two simple ways to migrate from Outlook Express to Thunderbird:

  • If you are starting up Thunderbird for the very first time, the Import Wizard will pop up, and you can then select the "Outlook Express" option to import your mail, address books, and settings. (With Mozilla Suite, you may not see the Import Wizard when starting up for the first time.)
  • Subsequent to launching Thunderbird for the first time, you can also go the the "Tools" menu, select "Import...", and then individually import your mail, address books, or settings from Outlook Express.

You could import from Outlook similarly. However, many times there are less problems if you import the messages from Outlook into Outlook Express, and then import them from Outlook Express into Thunderbird.

Importing more than one Outlook Express identity

The above procedures should work fine if you have only one identity in Outlook Express. However, if you have more than one identity (home, work, school, etc.), Thunderbird will only import the information from the identity set as default in Outlook Express. To import the information from other identities:

  • Start up Outlook Express, select "File -> Identities -> Manage Identities" and change your default identity to another one which you wish to import. Close and restart Outlook Express for the setting to take effect, then close Outlook Express completely.
  • Next, run Thunderbird's import function ("Tools -> Import..."), and when finished verify that the information has been imported properly.
  • Repeat the process for each identity in Outlook Express.

Note: When changing your identity, under "Manage Identities", make sure the Identity you want to import is selected in the two options: Under "Use this Identity when starting a program" and under "Use this identity when a program cannot ask you to choose an identity"

Advanced alternatives

  • Use either DbxConv or dbx2mbox to convert the .dbx files used by Outlook Express to mbox files. Then import the mbox files using the ImportExportTools extension. This extension used to be called the mboximport extension.
  • Export the messages as .EML files and then use the ImportExportTools extension to import them. One way to export them is to drag and drop them from Outlook Express to a folder in windows explorer. The trial version of Outlook Express Repair also lets you export folders as .EML files. Using .EML files is the least user friendly solution.

See Also