How to Export Email from Thunderbird to Outlook (2 Ways)

User need: Convert Thunderbird to Outlook

Thunderbird stands out as a popular cross-platform and open-source email application, offering features for managing email messages, events, tasks, and the address book.

On the other hand, Outlook is a widely used email client application globally, serving communication purposes. It operates as an independent personal information manager, storing all data in PST file format, including emails, contacts, calendars, journals, tasks, notes, etc. Some users find it’s necessary for them to export email from Thunderbird to Outlook:

☞ Outlook compatibility with Microsoft Exchange Server:
Microsoft Outlook is well-integrated with Microsoft Exchange Server, making it a preferred choice for users operating in an Exchange Server environment.
☞ Enhanced Security Features in MS Outlook:
Outlook is known for providing robust security features, which can be a crucial factor for users concerned about the safety of their email data.
☞ Syncing Outlook Account to Mobile Phones:
Users can easily synchronize their Outlook accounts with their mobile phones, ensuring seamless access to emails, contacts, and other data on the go.
☞ Advanced Features in Outlook:
Outlook offers advanced features such as scheduling emails, task tracking, calendaring, and efficient spam filtering, enhancing overall productivity and user experience.

These factors collectively contribute to the decision to export Thunderbird to Outlook for users seeking a more integrated and feature-rich email management solution.

If you're looking for a solution to migrate from Thunderbird to Outlook, this article provides a step-by-step process on how to export Thunderbird Mailbox to Outlook with attachments. Whether you're a technical or non-technical user, the complete guide ensures an easy accomplishment of this task.

2 ways to export email from Thunderbird to Outlook

Way 1. Move Thunderbird Mail Items to Outlook via Gmail IMAP

Step 1. Enable IMAP Access in Gmail

1. Sign in to your Gmail account and access Settings.

2. Navigate to Forwarding and POP/IMAP and choose the Enable IMAP radio button under IMAP Access. Then click Save Changes.

Step 2. Sign in to Thunderbird using Gmail IMAP Account

1. Open Thunderbird and select your Thunderbird email account.

2. Click Email under Set up an account.

3. Enter your Gmail username and password, then click Continue.

4. Choose the IMAP radio button and click Done.

Step 3. Copy Thunderbird Mail Items to Gmail Account Folder

1. Create a new folder in your configured Gmail account in Thunderbird.

2. Right-click on Gmail Inbox or a folder, choose New Subfolder.

3. Enter a name, choose your Gmail Account from the Create as a subfolder of. And then click Create Folder.

4. Copy all Thunderbird email folders to this new Gmail folder.

Step 4. Sign in to Outlook using Gmail IMAP Account

1. Open Microsoft Outlook, sign in with your Outlook account.

2. Sign in with the same Gmail account used in Thunderbird.

3. Allow Outlook to sync all Gmail folders, including the new Thunderbird-created folder.

4. Copy the folder and paste it into your new Outlook account.

5. Sign out from the Gmail account.

Step 5. Export Synced Folder to PST (Optional)

Alternatively, export Thunderbird to PST with the intermediate using the Outlook Import/Export wizard.

1. Open Outlook and go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

2. Choose Export to a file> Next and select Outlook Data File (.pst) > Next.

3. Select the Gmail profile and the folder containing Thunderbird emails.

4. then check Include subfolders and click Next. Choose export options and finish the wizard.

Now, sign out, remove the Gmail account from Outlook, and import the PST through the Import/Export wizard to complete the Thunderbird email migration to Outlook.

Method 2. Migrate Thunderbird email to Outlook by dragging and dropping

This method involves a more hands-on approach but remains relatively straightforward. It requires manually dragging and dropping Thunderbird emails into an Outlook folder. Execute the process with the following steps:

Step 1. Open both Thunderbird and Outlook on your computer.

Step 2. In Thunderbird, locate the folder containing the emails you intend to export.

Step 3. Select the emails you want to move and drag them to the desired folder in Outlook.

Step 4. Once the emails are in Outlook, organize them into folders, apply labels, or forward them to another recipient as needed.

Further reading: enhance email security via regular backup

Email backups play a crucial role in preventing data loss, providing users with the means to recover email content that may be deleted or lost. These backups ensure that emails remain accessible for an extended period and simplify the process of retrieving lost messages. For a reliable solution, AOMEI Backupper Professional is recommended, particularly its "Outlook Backup" feature. This feature is designed to streamline the backup of Outlook desktop, offering users a robust tool to secure their email data.

Resourceful email items are supported: backup the entire Outlook mailbox including mail folders (Inbox, Outbox, Drafts, etc.), Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, and more are supported.
Multiple backup locations: different backup destinations for you to consider, ranging from backup emails to external hard drive, NAS, network location, to cloud client.
Automatic backup: it offers schedule backup option to allow you easily set up daily, weekly, monthly, event triggers, or USB plugin backups.
Backup methods: it offers intelligent backup modes, which allows you to create incremental and differential backup, ensure that only the changes are copied, saving you valuable time and storage space

Now download AOMEI Backupper Professional on your computer and install it. With a great trending of usage for cloud services, I present you an example to backup Outlook emails with Google Drive.

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Step 1. Loggin your Outlook emails account in the Outlook desktop app and close it. And also make sure you can access to the Google Drive.

Step 2. Open AOMEI Backupper Professional, go to the Backup tab and select Outlook Backup.

Step 3. Modify a name to the Outlook backup task according to your preference. Click Add Outlook Data, then select the folders in your Outlook account as the backup source.

Step 4. Click on the destination box, then choose Select a cloud drive, and choose Google Drive, and click OK.

Step 5. Click on the Schedule Backup icon at the bottom of the page and customize the backup frequency as you need. Finally, click Start Backup to backup Outlook to Google Drive now.

Conclusion

To enhance your email experience, try exporting email from Thunderbird to Outlook. Or conversely, importing Outlook PST to Thunderbird is a choice for many users. In today’s article, we have 2 ways for you from the above.

What should you do after migrating? Well, considering backup your crucial email data via professional and reliable software is necessary. AOMEI Backupper is full-featured and powerful backup and restore software that gives your the freedom to handle all kinds of data protection difficulties. Now download and try it by yourself.