Recover Deleted or Lost Thunderbird Emails

5 Ways to Recover Deleted Emails from Thunderbird (UTF-8)

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How do I recover emails from Thunderbird?

"Hello, do you know how to recover emails after emptying the Trash in Thunderbird? Yesterday, I accidentally deleted some old emails from my Inbox. Later, I emptied the Trash."

"This morning, I tried to reply to an email in Thunderbird, but couldn't find it in my inbox. I have already emptied the trash folder. How can I recover emails from Thunderbird after emptying the trash?"

If you're also facing similar issues with Thunderbird, then don't worry. On this page, you'll find 4 effective solutions to recover lost Thunderbird emails and files. Try out the methods below to easily restore your missing Thunderbird files and emails.

Part 1: Recovering Deleted Emails from Thunderbird

There are two ways you can try to recover deleted Thunderbird emails – from the Trash folder and Thunderbird backup.

Method 1: Recover Deleted Thunderbird Emails from Trash

If you accidentally delete an email from your inbox to Junk, it's easy to recover. You can follow this guide to restore Thunderbird emails from Junk:

Step 1. Launch Mozilla Thunderbird and log in to your user account.

Step 2: Click on "Spam" to find the message you deleted.

Right-click the deleted email in the Trash and select Move To > choose User Accounts > and specify where you want to restore the deleted email – to the Inbox (highly recommended).

Then, look in your “Inbox” to find and open the restored message.

Method 2: Restore Thunderbird Emails from a Backup Copy

This method is applicable if you have a backup of your Thunderbird profile. Here's how to recover deleted emails from a Thunderbird profile backup:

Step 1: Open the Thunderbird profile folder on your computer:

"C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles" translates to "C:\Users\用户名\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles" in Chinese (UTF-8).

Step 2. Replace your current folders with the ones you backed up from Thunderbird.

Step 3: Launch Mozilla Thunderbird, and all your mail, settings, email accounts, and calendars should transfer over to your new Thunderbird profile.

Part 2: Recover Permanently Lost or Deleted Thunderbird Emails

Perhaps some of you might also be wondering how to recover permanently deleted or removed emails from Thunderbird. Good news! Here, we have compiled three practical methods for you to try and get your permanently deleted emails back.

Method 1: Restore Deleted Thunderbird Emails after Emptying Trash

If you have already emptied the Trash and permanently deleted your emails from your computer, don't worry. You can use any of these methods to recover emails permanently deleted after emptying the Thunderbird Trash:

Step 1. Show hidden files in File Explorer:

1. Open Windows Explorer > Under "Tools," select "Folder Options." 2. Click on "View" > Check "Show hidden files, folders, and drives," then click "OK."

Step 2. Locate the file that Thunderbird saved on your computer:

1. Navigate to `C:/Users/YOUR USER NAME/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/YOUR PROFILE/YOUR THUNDERBIRD ACCOUNT.` 2. Look for a configuration file named with eight random alphanumeric characters, followed by `.default`. 3. `YOUR THUNDERBIRD ACCOUNT` is the name of the Thunderbird account from which you want to recover the deleted email.

Step 3: Open the ImapMail folder, and then open the “Inbox” file with Notepad or another text editor.

Note: Inbox does not include file extensions, and it does not open files such as Inbox.msf.

Step 4: Find the line in your email text that says something like X-Mozilla-Status: 0009, and change the number to 0000. Save and exit the Notepad file.

Step 5. Close and reopen Thunderbird, then check your “Inbox” for the recovered messages.

All recovered messages will be marked as unread.

Method 2: Recover Lost Thunderbird Emails and Files from Local Disk

If you've lost the Thunderbird mail files saved on your local drive, or accidentally deleted the entire Thunderbird profile folder from your computer, don't panic.

With a powerful email recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard, you can easily and effectively recover your lost files. This file recovery utility is also great at restoring deleted or missing Outlook folders.

You can download the tool File Recovery Software here and retrieve your lost or deleted Thunderbird files immediately by following these steps:

Step 1: Select the drive or partition where the lost email files were located, and then click “Scan”.

Step 2. The software will immediately start the scanning process. Wait for it to finish. To locate email files quickly, click on “Other” in the left panel. Then look for PST files or Outlook files in the file type list.

Step 3. Select the email file you want to recover, and click “Restore.” Save the file to a location other than its original one.

Then, you can copy the restored Thunderbird profile back to and save it in this location: C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles, replacing the old profile folder, and restart Thunderbird; you should see your restored emails in your inbox.

Method 3: Repair the Inbox Folder to Restore Permanently Deleted Thunderbird Emails

This is used to fix damaged Thunderbird emails in the Inbox folder. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Open Mozilla Thunderbird, right-click on the "Inbox" folder and select "Properties."

Step 2: Select General Information and verify that the folder name is Inbox.

Step 3: Click "Repair Folder," and then click "OK" to finish.

Recover lost Thunderbird emails by repairing the corrupted Inbox folder.

After that, you should be able to view your repaired items, such as emails, in the “Inbox” folder.

Part 3: Frequently Asked Questions about Thunderbird Mail

This page includes 5 methods to help Thunderbird users recover lost or even permanently deleted emails. You can effectively restore Thunderbird emails from the Trash, backups, change the status of your Inbox file, repair the Inbox folder, and even apply email recovery tools.

If you have other questions about Thunderbird email, try the troubleshooting steps listed.

How do I back up my Thunderbird mail?

Since there is no built-in backup feature in Mozilla Thunderbird, you have to create a manual backup copy of your local profile on your computer. To do this:

Step 1. Open the Thunderbird user folder on your computer: C:/Users/UserName/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles.

Step 2: Copy the folder with the .default extension and save it in a secure location on your computer or an external hard drive.

How do I recover a message in Thunderbird?

When you delete an email in Thunderbird, you might first check your “Trash” folder to see if it's there. If it is, move it back to your “Inbox” folder. If your missing email isn't in the Trash, check your “Drafts” folder. Sometimes, Thunderbird will send spam to your Drafts folder instead.

If you have a backup of your Thunderbird profile, replacing the profile on your local PC with the backup copy will also restore any missing mail. For detailed instructions, return to the Solutions section above and follow the steps for your situation.

Where are my Thunderbird email files?

Not all email clients save each message file to your Windows or Mac computer's hard drive the way Outlook does, for example. Thunderbird is no exception; it typically stores your mail, settings, calendar, and account information all in one inbox database on your computer.

The Inbox file is saved on your computer within the "Profiles" folder. The default location is: C:/Users/UserName/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/.