Windows Live Mail: Switch to Thunderbird

Thunderbird an e-mail program from the stable of Firefox. It is a good alternative to a program like Windows Live Mail or Microsoft Outlook. It can handle various types of email addresses, such as from Microsoft and Gmail, but also from your provider. Thunderbird is not installed by default on the computer so you have to install it yourself.

On SeniorWeb you will find two articles that explain the basics of Thunderbird.

• Getting Started with Thunderbird
• Continue with Thunderbird

Emails from Windows Live Mail can be easily archived and consulted using the Mailstore program. It is also possible, for those who really want to, to subsequently import these e-mails into Thunderbird. You can read how to download and install the program in the Mailstore article.

When the program is ready for use, proceed as follows:

• Launch Mail Store.
• click on Archive emails.
• Under ‘Email Clients’, click Windows Live Mail.
• In the window that appears, click To end.
• In the next window that appears, click OK.
• Under ‘Profiles’, double click Windows Live Mail to start archiving.
• At the bottom right of the screen you will see a progress window. Depending on the number of messages you have, archiving may take some time. When the process is complete, click in the progress window on Close.

You can now consult all your e-mails in the archive via the Mailstore program. But this program can also transfer the messages to Thunderbird. Please note: this is only possible after you have set up an email account in Thunderbird!

• Click in the Mailstore program on Export emails.
• Under ‘Email Clients’, click Mozilla Thunderbird.
• In the window that appears, click Next one.
• Click again Next one.
• Under ‘Profiles’, double click the given name to start transferring.
• At the bottom right of the screen you will see a progress window. Depending on the number of messages you have, transferring may take some time. When the process is complete, click in the progress window on Close.

All mails are in a separate folder called ‘MailStore Export’.

Before transferring your contacts to Thunderbird, first create a special file containing all contacts. Save such a CSV file in Windows Live Mail like this:

• Launch Windows Live Mail.
• Click on the bottom left Contacts.
• Click at the top Export.
• Then click Comma Separated Values ​​(.CSV) File.
• click on To leaf through.
• Select a folder on the computer to save the file to.
• Think of a suitable file name, for example ‘Contacts Address Book’.
• click on Save.
• click on Next one.
• Decide what data, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and nicknames, you want to transfer.
• click on Complete.

The address book csv file is saved on the computer. Now it’s time to transfer the contacts to Thunderbird:

• Launch Thunderbird.
• click on directory.
• click on Additional.
• click on Import.
• click on Address Books.
• click on Next one.
• click on Text file (LDIF, .tab, .csv, .txt)
• click on Next one.
• Click to the right of ‘File name’ LDIF (*.ldi, *.ldif).
• click on All files.
• Navigate to the CSV file you saved, click it, and then click To open.
• Click in the window on OK.
• click on Complete.

All contacts are imported into Thunderbird. You will find them under the name you have given to the file. In our case it was ‘Contacts Address Book’.

Note: Sometimes the import doesn’t work this way. That has to do with the csv file. In that case, do the following before starting the import:

• Open the Windows Explorer.
• Go to the csv file.
• Right click on it.
• Select Open with.
• Then click Notepad.
• Notepad opens. Click in the menu on To process.
• click on To replace.
• Next to “Search for,” type the semicolon: ;
• Next to ‘Replace with’, type a comma: ,
• click on Replace everything.
• Close the ‘Replace’ window by clicking on the cross.
• Click in the menu on File.
• click on Save.
• Close Notepad by clicking the cross.
• Now start Thunderbird and follow all the steps to import the address book.

If you use an e-mail address that you have received from your provider (such as Ziggo or KPN), you can link this address to Thunderbird and receive all e-mail in one place from now on.

• Launch Thunderbird.
• Click under ‘Accounts’ on E-mail. If Thunderbird was still open, click on your email address first.
• click on Skip this and use my existing email address.
• Enter your name and the e-mail address and password that you have received from your provider or that you have created with the provider.
• click on Get on.
• click on Ready.

Your account has now been added to Thunderbird.

Once you’ve transferred everything, Windows Live Mail is no longer needed. It is recommended to remove the program from the PC. Don’t do this right away, but wait a few days. Until you are sure that all your mails and contacts have been transferred to Thunderbird.

Remove the program in the following way:

• Right click on Start.
• click on Programs and Features.
• Find Windows Essentials 2012 in the list and click it.
• click on Delete Change.
• Click on All Uninstall Windows Essentials Programs.
• Check all programs and click remove.