How to Backup Thunderbird Emails to External Hard Drive

Summary: The era of technology which is frequently changing daily, raises concerns about data safety. Nowadays, data is the kind of asset you don’t want to lose at any cost. That is why you should take a backup of your Thunderbird mailbox to an external hard drive to keep the data in a safe place. To secure it from getting lost for various reasons like system crashes and data theft. Moreover, there are significant benefits to downloading Thunderbird emails to an external hard drive; it can prevent data loss. In case your local computer/PC crashes and you need to open your Thunderbird data, you can easily access it if you have created a backup. In addition, to prevent these scenarios from happening to you where you cannot access your valuable data. You should back up emails from the Thunderbird mailbox to a local hard drive. Hence, in this article, we will explain the procedures of “how to save or backup Thunderbird emails to external hard drives”. So let’s get moving to the next segment.  

How to Save Emails from Thunderbird Mailbox to External Drive

We provide the best easy-to-perform methods to save Thunderbird emails to an external hard drive. These procedures are tested to bring you the most effective and reliable way to back up your Thunderbird profile. 

1. Use ImportExport Add-on to export Thunderbird Mailbox
2. Create a Backup of the Thunderbird Profile
3. Backup Thunderbird emails to the desktop as EML files

Method 1: Use ImportExport Add-on to Export Thunderbird Mailbox

Thunderbird doesn’t have any built-in feature to export the mailbox directly to an external format or to the desktop. Hence, you are required to install an Add-on Thunderbird ImportExport tool. So that you can save Thunderbird emails to an external file format like EML, PDF, HTML, CSV, Plain Text, Spreadsheet, etc. Thus, follow the below procedure to save emails from Thunderbird mailbox:

1. Login to your Mozilla Thunderbird.
2. In the tool’s wizard click the “Display the Thunderbird Menu” icon from the top right corner.
3. Select Add-ons from the drop-down menu.
4. Again, click on the Add-ons icon in the Add-ons Manager interface.
5. Here, select the ImportExportTools from the Featured Add-ons menu.
6. Press the Add to Thunderbird button and then click the Install Now tab.
7. After successfully installing the add-on to your Thunderbird account, go back to the Add-ons Manager wizard and click on the Restart now option to end the process.
   (Note:- If your Thunderbird is running in safe mode, then restart it in normal mode)
8. Right-click on the Inbox that you want to save and select ImportExportTools >> Export all messages in the folder >> EML format.

   (Note:- Select the EML file format from the drop-down menu to backup Thunderbird emails on your system or choose the HTML file format (with attachments) to export the mailbox in their original formatting and attachment.)

9. Select the destination of your backup files to be stored in your system then click on the Select Folder button. 
10. Finally, at your chosen destination, all will get saved.

Method 2: Create a Backup of the Thunderbird Profile

To save your Thunderbird mailbox you can backup your entire Thunderbird profile. Your profile keeps all the information related to your account including your emails, account settings, etc.

Steps to copy the Thunderbird profile folder and paste it to a backup location:

1. Login to your Mozilla Thunderbird account.
2. Go to the “Display the Thunderbird Menu” icon.
3. Click on the Help >> Troubleshooting information.
4. After being redirected to the Applications Basics section, select the Open folder (Local drive). 
5. Copy the User’s Profile folder from the top above section and go to the location where you want to save the folder and then paste it there. As your destination for the folder, you could choose your system location or any external hard drive.

Method 3: Backup Thunderbird emails to the Desktop as EML files

1. Login to your Thunderbird account and click on the necessary folder.
2. Choose the email that you want to save and for multiple emails press, Ctrl+A then select the required emails.
3. Now, go to the Menu option.
4. Click the Save As >> File.
5. Finally, select a location for your output folder to save the emails by clicking on the Save button.

These are all the manual methods that can assist you with backup Thunderbird emails to an external hard drive. However, these methods can be quite problematic due to their complex process. In addition, users often complain about the confusion and the technical issues they face while exporting the Thunderbird mailbox. Indeed, the manual methods are quite complicated. Hence, it would be best if you had the technical expertise to perform the above procedures correctly.

Moreover, we are providing a professional method to tackle these problems and save thunderbird emails to an external drive. With the assistance of this method, you can easily copy all emails from Thunderbird to a hard disk.

Method 4: Save Thunderbird Emails into Hard Drive Using Professional Solution

Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool is an outstanding utility for backup Thunderbird emails into a hard drive. It allows users to save Thunderbird emails in PDF, PST, EML, EMLX, JSON, and CSV file formats. This tool is quite advanced and assists you with migrating and restoring Thunderbird mailboxes to Gmail, Outlook, Office 365, Yandex Mail, Zoho Mail, and many webmail clients. So without any delay let’s get into the tool’s working procedure.

Steps to Backup Thunderbird into an External Hard Drive:

1. Download & Install the Aryson Thunderbird Backup Tool.
2. Choose the folder that you want to export from the left panel of the tool.
3. Select a desired saving file format to back up your Thunderbird emails to the external hard drive.
4. Here, we proceed the further steps by selecting PST as a saving option.
5. Set a destination path for your resultant file.
6. Now, click on the Convert button to start saving Thunderbird emails.

By following the above steps you can easily save Thunderbird emails to an external hard drive with ease and reliability.

Conclusion

In brief, we have discussed the best and easy methods to backup Thunderbird emails to the hard drive. However, the manual methods are quite complex and need technical expertise to perform. Fortunately, we have also provided you with a professional solution that allows you to save your Thunderbird mailboxes at once. Well, it’s up to you, you can choose any of the above solutions.

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