Thunderbird recovery

Recovering Thunderbird email storage with Zmeil

This document summarizes all the necessary steps to recover Thunderbird email storage.

Preparations

1. Download Zmeil, then install it just like you do with a regular software. The evaluation version of Zmeil allows you to recover at most nine email messages to see what you can expect once you purchase a full version (get Zmeil for $29.95).

2. Zmeil does not modify the files where the original emails are stored. However, you'd rather backup the original information anyway. Where does Thunderbird store all the emails?

Running Zmeil

1. Start Zmeil
   • Click "Next>>"
2. Specify Thunderbird message database file to recover
   • Mark the Thunderbird's message base file(s) you want to recover.
   • Set "Source Format" to "Generic (Thunderbird, Eudora, TheBat!)".
   • Click "Next>>"
3. Select the output type. If you plan to import the recovered messages back to Thunderbird, as detailed below, you need Zmeil to output the recovered data to UNIX mailboxes.
   • Select "Save UNIX mailboxes (one per source file) to the specified folder"
   • Specify the location for the UNIX mailbox file. The recovered messages will be stored in this UNIX mailbox file.
   • Click "Next>>"
4. Recovery run
   • This stage is fully automatic - no action required on your part. Once the process is completed, Zmeil will switch to the next screen automatically.
5. Select messages to recover
   • Mark messages to recover by clicking their corresponding checkboxes (use context menu, "Select everything").
   • Click "Next>>"
6. Click "Exit" to close Zmeil.

If you need an illustrated tutorial on using Zmeil please refer here.

Importing the recovered messages back to Thunderbird

1. Copy the UNIX mailbox file generated by Zmeil to the folder where all Thunderbird mailboxes are stored (how to find Thunderbird profile folder). You can rename the file if you like to (this new name will become the name of the Thunderbird folder).
2. Start Thunderbird. You'll see a new mail folder in the folder's tree, which would contain the recovered messages.

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