Moving your profile folder: Difference between revisions

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Instead of moving your profile folder, [[profile manager | create a new profile]] and then [[Transferring data to a new profile | copy your old profile data to the new profile]]     
Instead of moving your profile folder, [[profile manager | create a new profile]] and then [[Transferring data to a new profile | copy your old profile data to the new profile]]     


Important:  If you're using Thunderbird or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey Mail, be sure to include the  [[prefs.js file]] if you are only copying selected profile data, then after starting the new profile (otherwise, you will have to recreate your mail accounts).  Once you start the new Thunderbird or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey profile, you should then check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in your (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Server Settings and (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.
Important:  If you're using Thunderbird or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey Mail, be sure to include the  [[prefs.js file]] if you are only copying selected profile data (otherwise, you will have to recreate your mail accounts).  Once you start the new Thunderbird or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey profile, you should then check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in your (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Server Settings and (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.
 


==Modify profiles.ini to point to the new location - Advanced==
==Modify profiles.ini to point to the new location - Advanced==

Revision as of 17:41, 22 August 2007

The following all involve the same basic steps and are thus explained together on this page:

In each case, you will be moving or copying an existing profile folder (or its contents) to a different location, so do not proceed until you have found the profile folder whose contents you want to move. It is strongly suggested that you have a backup copy of all existing profiles before continuing.

Note on moving profiles between operating systems: If you move your profile between dissimilar operating systems (Windows to Mac OS X for example) the pathnames in the prefs.js file (your settings) may have the wrong syntax. Thunderbird and Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey, for example, use the same format to store messages and address books on all platforms. In such cases, you can update the information stored in the prefs.js file by using the browse button for the local directory in your Options/Preferences for (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Server Settings and (Mail & Newsgroups) -> Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.

Using the Profile Manager to move your profile

Firefox and Thunderbird

Note: This method will also apply to SeaMonkey version 2.0, which is not yet released.

  1. Completely close Firefox or Thunderbird
  2. Copy the Profile folder to wherever you want to store it. It might be simplest to copy it to the "Profiles" directory but you can copy it anywhere but the application's program directory.
  1. Start the Profile Manager. A window similar to the one shown will open.
  2. Click on "Create Profile..." and, in the dialog that opens, enter a descriptive name for the profile you copied.
  3. Click on the "Choose Folder..." button. A "Browse for Folder" dialog will open. (The "Profiles" folder in the default profile folder path may be highlighted if you are using a recent version.)
  4. Select the profile folder you copied (normally located underneath the "Profiles" folder) and click OK.
  5. Review the path shown in the "Completing the Create Profile Wizard" dialog to make sure it is correct, then click "Finish" to create the new profile.
  6. Select the new profile and press the Start button to start Firefox or Thunderbird using the moved profile.
  7. If you're using Thunderbird, check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings and Tools -> Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.

Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x

Note: If you are moving a profile with the same name as an existing profile (for example, the "default" profile) you should use one of the alternative methods given below to move the profile. Although it is possible to rename the existing profile, copy the other profile folder to a different location and then use the same name to create the new profile, data loss could occur if done incorrectly (bug 57464).

  1. Completely close Mozilla Suite or SeaMonkey 1.x
  2. Copy the <Profile name> folder (which will contain the xxxxxxxx.SLT folder) to wherever you want to store it. It might be simplest to copy it to the "Profiles" directory if no other folder with the same name exists, but you can copy it anywhere but the application's program directory.
  3. Start the Profile Manager.
  4. Click on "Create Profile..." and, in the dialog that opens, enter the new profile name, using the EXACT same name as the <Profile name> folder you copied. For example, if you are copying the MyProfile\xxxxxxxx.SLT folder, enter MyProfile as the new profile name.
  5. If you placed the <Profile name> folder in the default profile location, click "Finish" to create the new profile.
  6. If you placed the <Profile name> folder in a different location:
    • Click on the "Choose Folder..." button. A "Browse for Folder" dialog will open.
    • Select the folder that contains the <Profile name> folder you copied. For example, if you placed the <MyProfile> folder inside the D:\Mozilla\Profiles folder, select the "Profiles" folder.
  7. Review the path shown in the "Completing the Create Profile Wizard" dialog to make sure it is correct, then click "Finish" to create the new profile.
  8. Select the new profile and press the Start button to start Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey 1.x using the recovered profile.
  9. Check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in your (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Server Settings and (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.

Alternatives

Create a new profile and copy the old one over it

  1. Create a new profile in your desired location.
  2. Completely close Firefox, Thunderbird, or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey.
  3. Copy the contents of your original profile folder, including all data files and subfolders, to the new profile folder location; for example, if you are copying the contents of the "default" profile:
    • Firefox and Thunderbird: Copy the contents of the xxxxxxxx.default folder.
    • Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x: Copy the contents of the default xxxxxxxx.slt folder
  4. If you're using SeaMonkey or Thunderbird, check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings and Tools -> Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.

Create a new profile and migrate your old data

Instead of moving your profile folder, create a new profile and then copy your old profile data to the new profile

Important: If you're using Thunderbird or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey Mail, be sure to include the prefs.js file if you are only copying selected profile data (otherwise, you will have to recreate your mail accounts). Once you start the new Thunderbird or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey profile, you should then check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in your (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Server Settings and (Mail & Newsgroups) Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.

Modify profiles.ini to point to the new location - Advanced

Note: This method will also apply to SeaMonkey version 2.0, which is not yet released.

Firefox or Thunderbird should already be installed on the computer where you are moving the profile and a profile folder and profiles.ini file should already exist. This method is recommended for advanced users only since it can be tough to troubleshoot. Mozilla applications can be very finicky about the contents of the profiles.ini file. They normally do not ignore bad entries, regardless of their position in the file.

  1. Create a new, empty folder in the desired profile location with the name you wish to use for the new profile, for example, D:\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\newprofile
  2. Copy the entire contents of the profile folder you are moving into the new profile folder you just created.
  3. If you copied the old profile from a CD, remove the write-protection from the copied files.
  4. Find the profiles.ini file (it will be located in the Firefox or Thunderbird default profile folder path) and open it in a text editor.
    • (Optional) Change the "Name=" line to the name of the new profile folder you created, e.g., Name=newprofile
    • Change "IsRelative=1" to "IsRelative=0"
    • Change the "Path=" line to the actual location of the new profile folder, e.g., Path=D:\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\newprofile.
  5. If you are moving a profile from its default location, the original profile folder can now be removed.
  6. If you're using Thunderbird, check that you can see the folders for each account. If they're missing, use the browse button for the local directory in Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings and Tools -> Account Settings -> Local Folders to specify the correct account and mail directories.

Caution: Incorrect editing of the "profiles.ini" file can cause a "already running but is not responding" error if the profile cannot be found (bug 278860).

Troubleshooting

If the GUI looks strange (for example the toolbar buttons) or the application does not function properly, it could be due to interference from previously installed themes or extensions that you migrated along with the rest of your profile. Thunderbird and Firefox users can try starting up in Safe Mode, which will launch the application with extensions and themes disabled; if the application starts up OK, then extensions/themes are most likely the problem. In this case, you can try exiting the application, deleting the contents of the "chrome" and "extensions" subfolders in your profile folder, and restarting. [1] Be warned that doing so will cause you to lose all installed extensions and themes.

You can verify whether your profile works by launching Firefox or Thunderbird using the -profile "path" command line argument to specify which profile should be run (see this article for details). That won't solve your immediate problem but it lets you rule out anything thats not profile manager related.

The profile manager can be very finicky about the contents of the profiles.ini file. It normally does not ignore bad entries, regardless of their position in the file. Worst case you might need to delete the profiles.ini file (or move it to a safe location) and then move all your profiles. However, this typically isn't a risk unless you're moving a profile in order to recover a missing profile, or you edited the profiles.ini file manually.

See also