Proven Way to Move Thunderbird to a New Computer

Written By Rohan Wiese
Updated on February 14th, 2026

Mozilla Thunderbird is one of the most trusted and widely used email clients. It helps users manage emails, contacts, calendars, and tasks in one place. Over time, your Thunderbird setup may contain hundreds or even thousands of emails, customized settings, email filters, and saved passwords. When you upgrade to the new computer, it is essential to move Thunderbird safely. Because if you lose important emails, it can be quite difficult to manage all your data together. However, there are some proven ways to move Thunderbird to new computer. This guide also provide the Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool to keep a safe backup of Thunderbird emails along with attachments.

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Table of Contents

Key Reasons to Transfer Thunderbird to New PC

There are many situations where you need to Thunderbird. Some of the most common reasons include:

When you get a new computer, you don’t want to lose your emails and account settings collected over the years. Then it’s better to move Thunderbird emails, as it helps you continue easily without starting from scratch.
If your old computer crashes or you reinstall Windows or macOS, your Thunderbird data might be at risk. Transferring it keeps your emails safe and avoids downtime.
Many people use Thunderbird for both work and personal communication. By transferring it, you can keep all your emails, attachments, and saved contacts in one place.
Thunderbird also has custom filters, signatures, themes, and add-ons. Moving your profile saves time because you don’t need to set everything up again.
When you migrate Thunderbird to a new computer, you can start working right away without any break. As a result, you can easily send or receive emails.

How to Move Thunderbird to New Computer

Among the several ways, there are some of the solutions which is quite relevant for the users.

We are here with all the specific solutions that can help you to migrate Thunderbird to New computer. In case your preference is to keep the previous data, then you should simply go for the backup solution.

Manual Method to Move Thunderbird Profile to New Computer

Users with deep technical expertise can proceed with the manual method. Further, we will go through some of the major native approaches to move Thunderbird to new computer:

Steps for the Source Computer

Plug in a transfer device (USB flash drive or an external storage drive).
Open Thunderbird, click the menu button.
Now, navigate to Help > Troubleshooting Information.
Find the Profile Folder option and click Open Folder.
This will open your Thunderbird profile in Windows Explorer.
Now, close Thunderbird.
In Windows Explorer, move up three levels from the opened profile folder.
Right-click on the Thunderbird folder and choose Copy.
Go to your transfer device, right-click, and select Paste.
If using a USB or local device, safely remove it once copying is complete.

Tip: These same steps can also be used to make a backup of your Thunderbird profile folder.

Steps for the Destination Computer

Connect the same transfer device that holds the Thunderbird profile folder.
Right-click on the copied Thunderbird folder on the device and select Copy.
Open Thunderbird (close the setup window if it pops up).
Click the menu button (≡), go to Help > Troubleshooting Information.
Find the Profile Folder and click Open Folder.
Close Thunderbird.
In Windows Explorer, move up three levels from the opened profile folder.
Right-click in this location and choose Paste.
When asked, confirm to replace the existing data.

Another Alternative: Use MozBackup to Transfer Thunderbird to New PC

Download and install MozBackup on your system.
When the Welcome screen appears, click Next.
Choose Backup a profile and select Mozilla Thunderbird.
Click Browse to select where you want to save the backup file>>Next.
You can add a password to protect the backup, but it’s optional.
Now, leave the Components selection as it is and click Next.
Next, you should wait for the backup process to complete>> Click Finish.
Safely remove the USB drive and connect it to your new computer.
With these steps, you can move Thunderbird to new computer.

Pointers That You Should Keep in Mind

MozBackup works only on Windows, so Mac or Linux users cannot use it.
The software hasn’t received regular updates, which may cause compatibility issues with newer Thunderbird versions.
While you can set a backup password, recovering it without remembering it is impossible.
If the backup process is interrupted or the USB drive fails, some data may be lost.
You cannot selectively back up only certain emails or folders; it backs up the full profile.

Keep Safe Backup of Your Thunderbird Data via Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool

The Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool is a safe and reliable solution to protect your Thunderbird data. It helps you back up all your emails, contacts, calendars, and account settings securely. This utility is very flexible and supports many backup in various file formats. Users can export Thunderbird to PST, EML, MBOX, PDF, and more. Hence, it becomes quite easy to access your data on different devices accordingly. Also, you can schedule automatic backups. So your important information stays updated without any extra effort. Additionally, it provides the features to backup only selected emails, and a simple interface that anyone can use.

Follow these Steps to Backup or Migrate Thunderbird Data

Download the Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool on your existing system.
Pick the specific Thunderbird profile from which you want to transfer data.
Now, choose the specific mails or any other data to backup and click Next.
From the next panel, choose the format to backup your Thunderbird profile.
After that, utilize the additional feature and assign a specific path to save.
Click Convert to move Thunderbird to New computer Windows 11 & others.

Final Thought

Keeping your Thunderbird data safe is crucial to protect emails, contacts, and settings. Manual methods and older tools like MozBackup can work, but they have limitations and may take more time. The Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool offers a secure, fast, and easy way to back up, restore, or transfer your Thunderbird profile to a new computer. With this software, you can move Thunderbird to new computer in your desired output option. This software also migrates email from Thunderbird to Outlook with all email attachments. So that your important data stays protected and easily accessible whenever needed.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1. How can I move Thunderbird to a new computer?

Ans: You can move Thunderbird manually by copying your profile folder or use tools like MozBackup or Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool to transfer your emails, contacts, and settings safely.

Q2. Where is my Thunderbird profile located?

Ans: On Windows, it’s usually under C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\. On Mac and Linux, it is in ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/ and ~/.thunderbird/ respectively.

Q3. Can I move Thunderbird without losing emails?

Ans: Yes. By copying the entire profile folder or using a backup tool, you can transfer all emails, contacts, and settings without data loss.

Q4. Is MozBackup still safe to use?

Ans: MozBackup works on older Windows systems, but it hasn’t been updated recently. For newer Thunderbird versions, using tools like Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool is more reliable.

Q5. Can I transfer only specific emails or folders?

Ans: Yes. Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool allows selective backup of emails, folders, or entire profiles, depending on your preference.

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About The Author:

Rohan Wiese

Rohan Wiese is a Technical Content Writer at Aryson Technologies, specializing in databases, e-mail recovery, and e-mail migration solutions. He enjoys conducting research and generating information that assists database administrators, businesses, and novices in resolving issues with MS SQL Server, MySQL databases, Cloud Computing, and Microsoft Exchange.

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