73 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
73 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Exporting / Importing emails
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visible: false
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published: true
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updated:
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last_modified: "April, 2021"
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app: Mozilla Thunderbird
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app_version: 78.9.0 on Manjaro Linux
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taxonomy:
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category:
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- docs
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tags:
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- email
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page-toc:
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active: true
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---
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# Exporting / Importing emails
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**Thunderbird** does not offer native backup tools so you have to do it manually or through an add-on.
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## Manual procedure
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Manual mail backup is nothing more than copying a directory to another location. **Thunderbird** stores settings and mails in a directory it calls "profile".
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To find your "profile":
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1. click **Help** in the menu bar;
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2. from the **Help** menu select **Troubleshooting Information**;
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3. under **Application Basics** look for **Profile Directory** and click on **Open Directory**;
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4. the file manager will open at the location of the profile directory.
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Now you can make a backup of the entire profile or just the mails. To do this simply copy the folder to the backup location. All mails from IMAP accounts are located in the **ImapMail** folder.
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## Backup using the Import/Export Tools add-on
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Both the add-on installation and the process of exporting the emails are quite simple.
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### Installing the ImportExportTools add-on
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* Run **Thunderbird**
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* Go to **Tools** at the Menu bar and select **Add-ons**
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* In the add-ons search field type _import export tools_ and then press enter
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* Find **ImportExportTools NG**, a small **GPL** software that add import/export tools.
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* Click on **Add to Thunderbird**
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* After installing and giving the necessary permissions for the add-on, you are now ready to back up all your emails.
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This add-on adds a new menu item in the **Tools** and the context menues.
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### Exporting your emails
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In **Thunderbird**, select a folder o directory you want to back up and right click.
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The import/export tool submenu displays a number of actions which you can peform to import or export various types of information into and out of **Thunderbird**.
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You can export:
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* Individual folders and/or all folder messages (EML, HTML, PDF, CSV or plaintext)
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* Export as individual files or a single file
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* Export indexes as plain text or CSV
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* Export messages from search dialog
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* Export complete profiles or just the emails files
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And import:
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* Mailbox files (Mbox files including the structures)
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* Profiles
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* EML and EMLX files
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* Individual or all directory files
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