Mozilla Thunderbird version 1.5 stores all your settings, emails and other stuff in ~/ .mozilla-thunderbird/ directory.
Mozilla thunderbird version 2.0 stores all settings in ~/.thunderbird/ directory. So when you download and upgrade your version you will get a blank and new mail client.
To get back your mail and other settings all you have to do is copy everything from ~/ .mozilla-thunderbird/ to ~/.thunderbird/ directory.
#1: Shutdown thunderbird
#2: Open a shell prompt / X terminal and enter:
$ cd .thunderbird
$ cp -avr ~/.mozilla-thunderbird/* .
#3 Start thunderbird and it will import everything including mails and other settings :)
#4 Don’t forget to update your extensions for a new version ;)
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
you should remove the space between ~/ and .mozilla-thunderbird/* .
so: $ cp -avr ~/.mozilla-thunderbird/* .
thanks for the heads up!
What the!?
I just upgraded Thunderbird from version 1.0.8 (Fedora Core 4) to 2.0.0 (Ubuntu 8.01).
version 1.0.8 had email in .thunderbird
version 2.0.0 has email in .mozilla-thunderbird
That’s exactly the opposite to what you’re saying
Anyway, if you’re uncertain, try checking email in an account you never use or which you know is (almost) empty. That will avoid having to sort through 3200 email message manually afterwards