Chapter 7 · 7.1
Backing up and restoring your profile
Thunderbird stores your accounts, settings, filters, local folders and address books in a folder on your computer: your profile. With a backup of that profile, you can quickly restore everything, for example on a new computer.
What is stored where?
| What | Where is it stored? | Backup needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Mail in your mailbox at WebOké (IMAP) | On our server | No, we make a backup every night (see Which backups WebOké makes) |
| Calendar and contacts from your Nextcloud | In your Nextcloud | No (see Backups at WebOké: what we keep and what you can do yourself) |
| Accounts, settings, filters, signatures | In your profile | Yes |
| Local folders, local address books and local calendars | In your profile | Yes |
Making a backup with Export
- Click the menu button, then Tools and Export.
- Thunderbird creates a ZIP file with your accounts, messages, address books and settings. Click Export and choose where to save the file, for example on a USB stick or in your Nextcloud.
Please note: Export works up to 2 GB. If your profile is larger, for example because you have a lot of mail in Local Folders, make a copy of the profile folder yourself (see below).
Making a copy of the profile folder yourself
- Click the menu button, then Tools, Export and Open profile folder. The folder opens on your computer.
- Close Thunderbird completely.
- In File Explorer (or Finder), go up one folder and copy the entire profile folder to your backup location.
This is how you find the profile folders without Thunderbird:
| System | Folder |
|---|---|
| Windows | %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles (type this in the address bar of File Explorer) |
| Mac | ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles (in Finder: Go, Go to Folder) |
| Linux | ~/.thunderbird (for the Flatpak version: ~/.var/app/org.mozilla.Thunderbird/.thunderbird) |
Restoring
With a ZIP file from Export:
- Install Thunderbird and start it. You don't need to add an account yet.
- Click the menu button, then Tools and Import.
- Choose Import from a file and then Import Backed-up Profile.
- Select the ZIP file, tick what you want to restore and click Continue.
With a copy of the profile folder: install Thunderbird, start it once and close it again. Open the new profile folder, delete its contents and put the contents of your backup in it. Start Thunderbird again.
Tip: On a new computer, it is often just as quick to add your addresses again (see Adding your email address automatically) and reconnect your Nextcloud (chapter 4). After all, your mail, calendar and contacts are stored on the server. You then only need to recreate your filters and signatures.