Is an import process required?
A key question is whether you need to manually import anything at all. Please note the following:
- If your account is using IMAP, then you do not need to import your messages since Postbox will download your folders and messages from your email server.
- If your account is using POP or POP3, then Postbox can download messages from your Inbox. Messages in other folders will need to be manually imported.
- Any messages stored on your local machine will need to be manually imported.
Manually migrate POP email from Thunderbird to Postbox
- Quit Postbox if it is currently running.
- Within Thunderbird, compact your folders by selecting Compact Folders from the File menu. If your mailboxes are quite large, this could take several minutes. When compaction is complete, Quit Thunderbird.
- As a precaution, backup Thunderbird by making a copy of your profile directory. Information on how to do this can be found in this article.
- Also, make a backup of your Postbox profile as well.
- Find the SOURCE mail folders you would like to copy from Thunderbird:
On the Mac, they are located at:
[your home folder]/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/[your profile]/Mail
On Windows, they are located at:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Windows user name]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\[your profile]/Mail
POP Mail is contained in the Mail folder. - In a separate window, navigate to your TARGET Postbox folder:
On the Mac Local Folders is located at:
[your home folder]/Library/Application Support/PostboxApp/Profiles/[your profile]/Mail/Local Folders
On Windows Local Folders is located at:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Windows user name]\Application Data\PostboxApp\Profiles\[your profile]\Mail\Local Folders - Copy the contents of your Thunderbird SOURCE folder to the Postbox TARGET folder.
- Start Postbox and you should be set to go!
For more migration options, please see this article.