Migrating Thunderbird Email to a new computer

I wanted to bring years of  Thunderbird email, addresses, mail folders, macros to sort incoming email in the proper folders, lotta stuff over to the new computer.  Thunderbird keeps all this stuff in “profiles”, disk files, stored in each users space.  This way each user of the computer can have his own email, address book and all that other stuff.  The executable Thunderbird code is kept in Program Files (86), but the mail and address data are kept in a folder name Thunderbird in Documents and Settings in XP renamed Users in Win 10.  The Thunderbird profiles are folders in the Thunderbird folder. Along with a key file named profiles.ini.  Profiles.ini has a pointer to the profile that Thunderbird has been using.  There may be more than one profile, but the one you want to move to the new computer is the one Thunderbird is using at the minute.  The other profiles are older ones, or ones copied in from other computers, or just plain obfusticators.  No matter, bring them all over to the new computer.  I assume you understand how to move files from computer to computer using flash drives or CDs or DVDs or network connections.  Assume the new computer is running Win 10.  Put the Thunderbird folder in the users/your name/appdata/roaming/ directory on Win 10.  Copy the entire Thunderbird directory. 

   Now you need to get the Thunderbird code, the executable, onto the new computer.  I would just download the whole thing from the Mozilla website (Google will find it for you).   That way you get the latest code.  If you are migrating off something really ancient like Win XP, you want the latest version, which they probably have not been making available to ancient OS’s.   Run the new Thunderbird.  It will pop you to a new accounts page.  Cancel that.  Click on the nameless “Bars” button to get to the Thunderbird functions.  Click on Help.  Click on Trouble Shooting.   This displays a bunch of obscure data about Thunderbird.  Go to “Profile Folder”.  Clicking on “Open Folder” opens a window with explorer.  Navigate to the Thunderbird folder on the new machine’s hard drive, the folder that contains profiles.ini.  This points Thunderbird to your profile.  Then exit Thunderbird.  Count to ten.  Start up Thunderbird again.  Navigate  Help/Trouble Shooting Info like you did before.  Check “profiles” the very last entry.  Click on “about: profiles” and you ought to see Profile Home pointing to the Thunderbird folder you brought over from the old machine. 

This ought to be all you have to do to get Thunderbird to see your old email, your email addresses and start working like it always did.