{"id":23655,"date":"2018-08-27T07:06:56","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T07:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/?p=23655"},"modified":"2025-05-26T08:45:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T08:45:24","slug":"transfer-thunderbird-emails-to-outlook-on-new-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/transfer-thunderbird-emails-to-outlook-on-new-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Move Thunderbird Data to a New Computer?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

“I have an old laptop with Mozilla Thunderbird on it. I want to move my emails and contacts to Thunderbird setup on a new computer. How can I do it?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

When you download and install Thunderbird on your Windows PC, it creates a folder named “Profiles<\/strong>” at its root location. This folder contains all the user profiles that are configured in Thunderbird, as shown in the image below.<\/p>

\n
\"thunderbird<\/figure>\n<\/div>

Each profile folder is an MBOX file containing associated mailbox data, such as emails, contacts, SBD files, and more.<\/p>

Some may say you can use your existing Thunderbird credentials to log in to Thunderbird installed on a new PC and move your data. However, this is not possible as Thunderbird creates a profile folder on the system (shown above) that stores the mailbox data. Thunderbird doesn’t store any data on the cloud.<\/p>

Hence, you will need to manually move the Thunderbird profile folder or the complete MBOX file from the source computer to the destination computer. But how do you do it? Let’s find out.<\/p>

Methods to Move Thunderbird Data to a New Computer<\/h2>

Below, we have explained two methods to help you move Thunderbird data to a new computer.<\/p>

Method 1: Copy the Thunderbird Profile Folder (MBOX File) to a New Computer<\/h3>

If you want to transfer Thunderbird mailbox data from one computer to another, you can copy the profile folder containing the MBOX file from the root directory on the source computer and paste it at the exact location on the new computer. All you need is an external storage device, preferably with a large storage capacity (≥64GB) like an HDD or SSD, to transfer the profile folder.<\/p>

Once you have your external storage device ready, follow the step-wise instructions given below:<\/p>

Part 1: Copy the profile folder from the source computer<\/strong><\/p>