Moving your mail storage location - Thunderbird

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By default, your mail is stored in your profile folder, along with your address books and settings. If you want to move your mail (but not the entire contents of the profile folder) to a different location, follow the steps below.

For accounts using the Global Inbox (Local Folders)

1. Exit Thunderbird if it is running. Create a folder in the new location where you would like to store your mail.

2. Go to your existing profile folder and copy your mail files over to the new location. By default accounts using the Global Inbox have their messages stored in Local Folders, which is located in the "Mail" folder in your profile folder. Copy the entire contents of "Local Folders", including all subfolders, over to the new location.

3. Start Thunderbird and go to "Tools -> Account Settings", and then click on "Local Folders" in the left pane (you may need to scroll down to see it). Where it says "Local directory", click on the "Browse..." button to select the folder you created in step 1 and click the "OK" button. Verify that the "Local directory" field shows the correct path to the new storage location of your mail.

Note: there was a bug in Thunderbird version 0.8 which prevented the directory setting for Local Folders from being changed in this manner. This bug has apparently been fixed and should not affect subsequent versions.
Note: This bug reappeared in 1.5 Beta 2 (20051006) but has since been fixed [1].
Note: With some display settings in Windows, the "Local directory" setting is not visible in this dialogue box - you may need to adjust the size of text and various other settings until it is.

You will need to restart Thunderbird to see the changes. Once you're certain that Thunderbird recognizes the new location of your mail, you can go back and delete the mail files from your profile folder.

For accounts not using the Global Inbox

1. Exit Thunderbird if it is running. Create a folder in the new location where you would like to store your mail. If changing the storage location for more than one account, create a separate folder for each account.

2. Go to your existing profile folder and copy your mail files over to the new location. For each account you want to move: find that account's folder in the "Mail" folder (POP3 accounts) or the "ImapMail" folder (IMAP accounts) and copy its entire contents, including all of its subfolders, over to the new location.

3. Start Thunderbird and go to "Tools -> Account Settings -> [account name] Server Settings". Where it says "Local directory", click on the "Browse..." button to select the folder you created in step 1. Click the "OK" button and verify that the "Local directory" field shows the correct path to the new storage location of your mail.

(With some display settings in Windows, the "Local directory" setting is not visible in this dialogue box - you may need to adjust the size of text and various other settings until it is.)

4. If you have more than one mail account, repeat step 3 for each account whose mail you moved in steps 1-2.

You will need to restart Thunderbird to see the changes. Once you're certain that Thunderbird recognizes the new location of your mail, you can go back and delete the mail files from your profile folder.

See also