Thunderbird from Windows to Linux

Hi all, Hope someone can help.

I installed Linux (Ubuntu) due to Windows 7 crashing, to see if I could get to my files on the Windows partition, with success

I was wondering though, I used Thunderbird in Windows and I noticed that Ubuntu also has Thunderbird installed, is there anyway that I can get the folders etc from Windows into Ubuntu and if so how, bearing in mind I currently have no knowledge of Linux.

I'm quite impressed with how the Linux based OS's seem to work (I've installed Mint on an older laptop I have, as I've read in places that it is better than Ubuntu), so I will be reinstalling one or the other on a new hard drive (if I've got to reinstall Windows anyway, might as well upgrade the hard drive while I'm at it).

Looks like I can be added to the long list of converts, just hope I don't have ask to many daft questions.

cheers

Jay

 

Try this article. It worked for me last year when I had the same problem.

fosswire.com/post/2008/03/migrate-your-thunderbird-emails-from-windows-to-linux/

It's pretty straightforward. Good luck.

 

Excellent tutorial!

I just migrated my Windows Thunderbird to Linux Thunderbird about 3 weeks ago. This tutorial woulda/coulda saved me a lot of steps, but I had already setup my 3 e-mail accounts and was dual-booting while I finished my migration.

Instead of just copying over my profile and reinitializing the path, I copied over my e-mail folders for each account individually. The easiest way to do this, IMO, is to copy over your Windows Thunderbird profile in its entirety (you can do this while in Ubuntu/Mint by accessing your Windows partition and navigating your folder hierarchy to your Win T-bird location) and paste in the Thunderbird location within Ubuntu.

You'll find that the Windows and Linux Thunderbird file hierarchy is very similar, with only slight differences.

I'm assuming you're already dual-booting? As an example, where SAMPLE is the name of my e-mail account, I copied my SAMPLE inbox from Windows to Linux Thunderbird as follows:

1. From within Linux, access Windows partition (usually called 100 GB Filesystem, or something similar)
2. Go to Documents and Settings>Username>Application Data>Thunderbird>Profiles>randomalphanumeric.default>Mail>SAMPLE
3. Copy SAMPLE (including ALL subfolders, i.e. drafts, inbox, sent, trash, etc...) for paste into Ubuntu
4. From within Linux Home directory, go to View and check "show hidden folders"; this will show several new folders that begin with a "."
5. Go to .mozilla-thunderbird>randomalphanumeric.default>Mail and paste the entire SAMPLE folder previously copied from Windows partition.
6. Repeat for every e-mail account you want to migrate over.

That's it...tada!

In summary, I think my way might be easier for beginners(?), but the tutorial is certainly quicker and less work. FWIW...

Good luck!
For inst

 

James,
Thanks for the link. ALWAYS great to have additional tools for the tool box.

All the best,

Ian

PS: Have you seen Hawk?

 

If you start Thunderbird in Linux before you copy the profile, then you will need to replace the empty profile with the one you are transferring. You will also need to update the profile.ini file to reference the new profile.

 

Thank you for the thread and the post 76! I am a satisfied user of Thunderbird and so to plan on using Linux...

I have already sent my dear Bill letter....:-D