need a detailed up to date guidance how to migrate existing Thunderbird mail account from Windows 10 laptop to Zorin 18 PC Betterbird. The Thunderbird contains lots of older mails and subfolders; the existing Betterbird on PC is much "younger" - my AOL/verizon mail on the PC goes back only to when I installed Zorin 18 + Betterbird a few months ago. Tips/instructions I found on internet are not consistent, and I - not being exactly an IT geek - I am lost. I managed to copy Thunderbird profile from laptop to a USB stick, and the rest remains misty to me...
Well, can somebody help me with that migrating problem?...
This is not something I have done. I know that youa re quite right to be cautious, since the process can be error prone.
Part of the issue is in the different package formats that are offered: Whether Betterbird is installed using the standard packages, or if it was installed as a Snap or a Flatpak. This can create a lot of permissions issues or problems just trying to locate the file you need to move.
Betterbird recommends manually moving the files, rather than using the import button, which adds fuel to that file location issue.
And version mismatches can create failures.
Which... if you are using an alternative package management like Snap or Flatpak; would likely happen.
So, I think the first step would most likely be to ensure that your installed Betterbird is standard and matches the version you importing from.
I pasted the Thunderbird profile from USB to Zorin Betterbird ".var" file but no changes when opening BB mail app. The .var when clicked shows among few others a Thunderbird folder, and this eventually leads to my Thunderbird profile. When clicked on, it opens whole screen of files(?), a total of 145. All this is a black magic to me. I guess I will keep original Windows disk with all my older emails/subfolders, and open it on a spare laptop only when needed. Unless you resolve this for me...
Sadly, this is a bit mysterious to me, as well. I do not use Thunderbird.
Sometimes, help comes in a form that gives a hint that gets you looking in the right direction.
I posted since you have been waiting a while - something that may help is better than no help at all.
But since the transfer has an element of risk - I also am holding back as I'd rather not give poor instructions ("If you do not know, say nothing.")
In the meantime, at least you can fire up your WIndows disk as a placeholder until we get this sorted.
I tried using the Thunderbird/Betterbird migration instructions but, as you say, they are sometimes unclear and/or self-contradictory.
I ended up just adding the underlying email accounts (proton and a couple of different ATT/Yahoo) manually. You need the Proton Bridge app first if you have Protonmail and then use the password it generates rather than your Proton password.
Otherwise it was pretty straightforward and should bring in all your messages and folders from the underlying accounts, however old they are.
Thunderbird in the past, in respect of GNU/Linux stores the Profile in .thunderbird (a hidden file) in your /home folder. See if there is a hidden folder called .betterbird in your /home folder by pressing left Ctrl+ H. Now before you go ahead and copy and paste the Windows' Thunderbird profile, use Timeshift to take a snapshot of your system, including /home (which I don't normally recommend if you are working on an extensive document), but in this instance if .betterbird gets corrupted you can restore it.
1 Like