Restoring Thunderbird Email and Settings from a Backup

Author: Kylie Davies
Date: 17/11/06

Overview

This document details  how to restore Thunderbird email from backup.

Thunderbird stores its email settings in a folder called .mozilla-thunderbird/_____.slt or .thunderbird/_____.slt

Step by Step

1. Run Thunderbird so it creates a ____.slt folder. Close Thunderbird.
2. Open the file manager. Click the "View" menu from the file manager menus and select "Show Hidden Files" so all files and folders are visible.
   
3. Locate the .mozilla-thunderbird folder.
   
4. Locate the ____.slt file and make a back up of it on the desktop. Drag and Drop the entire folder on the desktop. Select Copy here to make a copy.
   
5. Go back to the file manager window and open the _____.slt folder. Delete all the files and folders in it. Do not delete the _____.slt folder. 
6. Locate the _____.slt folder you would like to restore.
   
7. Copy the contents of the _____.slt folder.
8. Paste the contents into the newly created _____.slt folder.
   
9. In the new _____.slt folder open the file prefs.js into a text editor.
10. Change path references for the location of the _____.slt file so it matches the new location. So if the old _____.slt references were /home/fred/.mozilla-thunderbird and the new location for the profile is /home/fred1/.mozilla-thunderbird you would need to change fred to fred1 in all path references.
    
11. Save the file.
12. Start Mozilla Thunderbird and all your mail should be restored.