Backup Mozilla Thunderbird Emails Locally – DIY Method

Mozilla Thunderbird is one of the most popular open-source email clients, known for its versatility, customizable features, and strong support for multiple email accounts. However, one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of using an email client like Thunderbird is keeping your emails backed up. Emails can hold important data, attachments, and personal information that you wouldn’t want to lose due to sudden deletion, corruption, or software issues.

In this blog, we will walk you through the process of backing up your Mozilla Thunderbird emails locally using a DIY method. Along with that, we will make you introduce to the DRS Thunderbird Backup Tool to backup Thunderbird Emails locally. This method ensures that your emails are saved securely on your device or external storage, away from the risk of server failures or other issues.

Understanding the Need to Save Thunderbird Emails to Local Drive

Thunderbird is easy to use, offers many features, and can be customized to fit your needs. However, one important thing people often forget is the need to save their emails to a local drive. Here, we will explain why saving Thunderbird emails to a local drive is important and how it can help you. 

1. One of the most significant reasons for saving Thunderbird emails to a local drive is to ensure that your data is secure.
2. When you store emails on your local drive, you no longer depend on your email provider or the internet to access your messages. 
3. Saving Thunderbird emails to your local drive allows you to organize and archive your messages more efficiently. 
4. By saving older or less frequently accessed emails to a local drive, you can free up space on your email server.
5. If you’re upgrading your operating system or switching to a new email client, having your emails stored locally ensures that you can easily migrate your email data. 
6. Saving emails to a local drive gives you greater control over how your data is handled.

How to Backup Thunderbird Emails Locally?

Saving emails locally might sound complicated, but it’s quite easy. You can either save individual emails or entire folders by exporting them to your local drive, or you can use backup tools to do it automatically. In the upcoming section, we will explain it in detail:

#Method 01: Manual Method to Backup Thunderbird Emails to External Hard Drive

By default, Thunderbird stores emails in the MBOX format, which is a common format for saving emails on your computer. Below, we mentioned the steps to backup Thunderbird emails to local drive manually:

• First of all, open Thunderbird on your current system.
• Navigate to the Help menu, then select More Troubleshooting Information.
• The Troubleshooting Information page will appear.
• In the Application Basics section, look for Profile Folder and click on the Open Folder button.
• This will take you directly to your Profile Folder location. From here, navigate to the Roaming directory.
• Open the Thunderbird folder under the Roaming section and make a copy of it to your computer.
• Make sure that Thunderbird is closed before copying the profile folder to avoid any data issues.
• Finally, paste the copied Thunderbird profile folder to a secure location on your computer, such as an external hard drive, virtual drive, or any desired backup directory.

Note: It will help you create a full backup of your Thunderbird profile, including emails, contacts, and settings. However, if you only want to back up specific emails to an external hard drive, follow the steps provided below.

• Subsequently, select the profile from which you want to save the email messages.
• Right-click on a specific message, or use the Shift key to select multiple emails.
• Choose the Save As option from the context menu that appears.
• Pick a destination folder on your computer where you want to store the selected emails.

After completing these steps, you will have successfully saved Thunderbird emails to your local drive, external hard drive, or virtual storage.

Drawbacks associated with the Manual Methods:

However, this manual method has a few limitations that users may encounter. Here are some of the common issues:

• Manually saving individual or multiple emails is slow with large mailboxes.
• The process requires manual intervention every time, making regular backups inconvenient.
• Accidental deletions or missed files can result in incomplete backups.
• The default “Save As” method only allows saving emails in EML format, limiting compatibility with other email clients.
• Attachments might not be saved correctly unless done manually for each email.
• Repeated manual handling can increase the chance of file corruption or errors during the process.
• Managing and organizing large email archives manually can be challenging and inefficient.

Therefore, it’s not ideal for comprehensive and consistent backups, especially for large or frequently updated email accounts.

Also Read: Methods to Backup IMAP Emails Locally

#Method 02: Automated Method to Backup Thunderbird Emails to Local Drive

The DRS Thunderbird Backup Tool is a software application designed to help users back up and migrate their Thunderbird email data. It allows users to back up Thunderbird profiles, including emails, contacts, attachments, and other mailbox items, into various formats, such as PST, EML, MSG, MBOX, and more. The tool offers features like:

• Users can choose specific Thunderbird profiles to back up on their local drive.
• It allows the selection of individual mailbox folders to back up, giving flexibility.
• Before backing up, users can preview the emails to ensure they are selecting the correct data.
• This tool supports different saving formats, including PST for Outlook, EML, MBOX, and more.
• It is designed to be user-friendly and offers a simple interface to complete the backup process with just a few clicks.

Backup Thunderbird Emails Locally With Thunderbird Backup Tool

• Download and launch the DRS Thunderbird Mail Backup Tool as an administrator.
• Pick the Thunderbird profile you want to backup from the drop-down menu and click Next.
• Select the mailbox folders from the tree structure, preview the emails, and then click Next to continue.
• Choose PST as the saving format and select any additional features you need from the available options. 
• Afterward, specify the location to save the backup file and click ‘Convert’ to backup Thunderbird emails to local drive.

Conclusion

Backing up your Mozilla Thunderbird emails on your computer is an easy and important way to protect your messages. By following the steps in this blog, you can backup Thunderbird emails locally and make sure your emails are saved and easy to access, even if something happens to your computer. In manual and automated solution, you can pick the method according to your technical expertise and requirement. Be sure to store your backups in a secure place and update them often to keep them current. With these simple method, you can manage your emails without worry for a long time.