How Can I Import Apple Mail to Thunderbird

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Source: twistermc.com

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Import Apple Mail to Thunderbird

Concepts:

thunderbird, folders, apple mail, importing, mac, converting, local folders, mbox, Thomas, windows, George, account, Alan, mailboxes, mbox format.

Importing mail from Apple’s Mail.app isn’t built into to Thunderbird. That’s a major oversight I think, however the work-around isn’t that bad. There are a dozen steps or so, but really, it’s not hard.

This works for folders that are considered ‘On My Mac’ in Apple’s Mail.app aka ‘Local Folders’ or inboxes, outboxes, sent boxes whatever. Remember, that if you have IMAP mail, or your mail is all stored on a server somewhere, this is all not necessary. Set up Thunderbird and it’ll import all that stuff on the server. This tutorial imports email from local folders that are saved on your actual hard drive.

First things first, back up your mail! This is very important because loosing anything sucks. Second, get Thunderbird and get you account all set up.

All set up? Wonderful! Now there are two things to consider. Are you importing the inbox? Or a folder? Each way is similar, just slightly different. If importing the inbox, sent, or other main boxes, you won’t have to create folders. Just basically follow the instructions below. If you need help, let me know.

Lets import a folder. For the example my folder is called George

1. Create new local folder in Thunderbird called George
   
2. Quit Thunderbird
   
3. Go to Home -> Library -> Mail -> Mailboxes -> George
   
4. Right Click on the file named George.mbox and choose ‘Show Package Contents’
   
5. Find the file named just mbox, copy it to the desktop and re-name it George
   
6. Open a new finder window
   
7. Go To Home -> Library -> Thunderbird -> Profiles -> [your profile] -> Mail -> Local Folders
   
8. Find the file called George (no extension) and overwrite it with the George file from step #5
   
9. Start Thunderbrid.
   
10. Done
    

When you click on the George folder all the emails will appear. They’ll all be marked read so you’ll have to sort though that. However, they’ll all have their attachments still there which is nice!

I think that covers it.

Note: This worked fantastic for me on 10.3.9 and Thunderbird 1.0.x. Should work in 10.4.x also.

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10 Must-Have Toolbar Buttons for Thunderbird 3

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Source: makeuseof.com

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Concepts:

thunderbird, toolbar, folders, accounts, extension, MakeUseOf, windows, Guide, exit, custom, Editors, Mac, filters, install, Tina.

Article Summary:

Are you wasting too much time going through Thunderbird's menus to accomplish simple tasks?

Can you never remember the keyboard shortcuts?

It may be time to install some visual shortcuts.

Thunderbird toolbar buttons provide one-click access to some of Thunderbird's most useful features.

In addition, there are buttons that add new functionality that you would otherwise miss out on.

Here are 10 toolbar buttons for Thunderbird 3 that you must have!

To add the buttons, you need to> right-click onto your Thunderbird navigation bar or toolbar and select> Customize...

1. Get all mails

Thunderbird 3 does contain a Get Mail button.

However, it takes two clicks to get mail for all your accounts.

If you don't ever check mails for just one account, you should get this button.

It skips the selection and automatically fetches new mail from all your accounts.

2. Remove Duplicate Messages (Alternate)

With this extension, you can search and remove duplicate messages.

By clicking the little arrow in the bottom right, you can set the comparison criteria.

These include author, recipients, CC list, status flags, message ID, numbers of lines in message, send time, size, subject, folder, and body.

In the example below I picked author as the sole criteria.

The extension searches all folders of one eMail account.

3. Mark All Read

Sometimes you have this odd unread message in a random folder or you received a dozen eMails you just want to read later.

Now you can skip searching or clicking each and every message, just hit the Mark All Read button.

4. Restart Thunderbird

Thunderbird 3 provides a restart option only after installing a new addon.

This button lays the decision when to restart Thunderbird into your hands or rather at the tip of your finger.

5. Exit Button

To properly close Thunderbird, you need to go through> File> Exit.

Sure, closing Thunderbird via the Windows' "close window" button is much quicker, but it rarely shuts the application down.

Thunderbird will continue to run in the background.

The Exit button puts the Exit option directly into your toolbar and saves you one click.

6. New Tab Button

Thunderbird 3 supports tabs. I've even listed the 5 Extensions For Tabbed Email Browsing in Thunderbird 3.

If you enjoy using the internal Thunderbird browser, you will find the New Tab Button extension very useful.

Be sure to have a look at the options for this extension.

Here you can define where the button should be added, among other options.

7. Xpunge

The Thunderbird profile folder tends to grow very large.

In part that's because eMail are never really deleted.

If you want to make sure all your deleted eMails are really gone forever, you will have to compact your folders.

Xpunge adds a toolbar button to empty the trash folder and compact folders in one or multiple accounts in one go.

8. Filter Button

Filters are rules, based on which mails are sorted into different folders.

This button lets you run your filters with one click.

Also, check out How to Set Up Message Filters In Thunderbird.

9. Toolbar Buttons

Tired of downloading one extension after another?

Try this one, which comes with 50 buttons for Thunderbird and many more for Firefox and Sunbird.

It contains a ton of super useful buttons.

Moreover, the extension provides options to finetune its buttons.

You can select which language the translate button should use, set a "favorite page", toggle proxy, or set news and mail client paths.

10. Custom Buttons

Custom Buttons allows you to convert bookmarklets into buttons or otherwise use it to build, maintain, import, and export custom toolbar buttons.

In case you can't be bothered or are lacking the skills, you can use this extension to import existing buttons provided on the Custom Buttons² website.

Which Thunderbird toolbar button is your favorite?

For me, using the Windows close button sometimes does close Thunderbird down properly and sometimes it doesn't, so it still runs in the background.

That's why I found the exit button a quick and safe way to shut it down with just one click.

As for the Get Mail button, it's fine if you have just one account set up.

In that case clicking Get Mail will get your mail for that account.

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