Top Free Methods to Import Thunderbird Emails into Outlook

Thunderbird vs Outlook

Features	Thunderbird	Outlook
Platforms	Thunderbird is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.	Outlook is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Quality	It has features such as support for Email, calendar, contact management, and RSS.	Outlook has more features than Thunderbird including Email, calendar, contact management, tasks, notes, journals, and more.
Support	Thunderbird only offers community support.	In Outlook, paid support is available for Microsoft 365 subscribers.
Integration with other Microsoft Products.	This is not integrated with other Microsoft products.	Outlook is integrated with other Microsoft products, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and so on.
Security	Thunderbird is less secure than Outlook.	It has better security features than Thunderbird, such as two-factor authentication and email encryption.

Why Migrate Mozilla Thunderbird to Outlook?

Outlook is a more powerful, integrated, secure, and user-friendly email client than Thunderbird. It provides a wider range of features, including support for tasks, notes, and journals. It is also integrated with other Microsoft products, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This makes it easy to share files and collaborate with others.

Outlook also has better security features than Thunderbird, such as two-factor authentication and email encryption. This can be important if you need to send and receive sensitive information.

Moreover, Outlook is generally considered to be more user-friendly than Thunderbird. It has a clean and modern design, and it is easy to find the features you need. So, because of these advantages, users want to migrate Thunderbird emails to Outlook.

Best Methods to Import Thunderbird Emails into Outlook

We have several methods that claim to perform the migration of Thunderbird emails to Outlook. But now, here, we discuss only two manual methods and one professional method. It’s the user’s choice which solution they want to choose according to their requirements. Let’s learn about professional methods first.

Method 01: How to Import Thunderbird Mail into Outlook Directly

The Thunderbird Backup Tool is the best solution to export Thunderbird to Outlook. This method is suggested by many tech experts as it directly converts Thunderbird emails into Outlook. Make sure that Thunderbird is installed on your system. So, let’s discuss the step-by-step guide to convert Thunderbird to Outlook:

1. Launch and Start the Thunderbird Backup tool as administrator.
2. Now, choose the Profile from which you want to migrate Mozilla Thunderbird to Outlook.
3. Then, from the left side of the wizard, choose the folders you want to change.
4. After that, choose PST as the format for the Output file.
5. Check out the features available, such as Remove duplicate Mail, Split resultant PST, and so on.
6. Select Path to Save to specify the desired location where you have to save your resultant file.
7. Finally, click Convert to complete the conversion process from Thunderbird to Outlook.

Method 02: Import Thunderbird Emails into Outlook Manually

For importing the Thunderbird mails to Outlook we have two manual solutions for this conversion. However, this manual solution is not as good as the above-mentioned professional method because this manual process is time-consuming and some email properties, such as attachments, are not imported. Now, we discuss both manual solutions one after another.

Approach 01:Transfer your Thunderbird data to Outlook through Gmail

Converting Thunderbird to Outlook via Gmail is a free but risky process that requires technical expertise. So it’s your choice whether you stay with this method or switch to a professional solution. But, we now discuss the step-by-step workings of this:

Step 01: Enable IMAP Access in Gmail

1. Sign in to your Gmail account.
2. Then, Click the Gear icon in the top right corner of the page and select See all settings.
3. In the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, scroll down to the IMAP access section and select the Enable IMAP checkbox.
4. Now, Click the Save Changes button.

Step 02: Move your Gmail into Thunderbird

1. Open Thunderbird, and then click Tools > Account Settings.
2. Now, Click Account Actions > Add Mail Account.
3. Enter your Gmail email address and password.
4. Select IMAP, and then click Done.
5. After that, Your Gmail account will be added to Thunderbird.

Step 03: Move Thunderbird Emails into Sync Gmail Account

1. Open Thunderbird and sign in to your Gmail account.
2. Then, Create a new folder in Gmail and assign the name to your newly created folder.
3. Select the emails you want to migrate in Thunderbird.
4. Now, Drag and drop the selected emails into the newly created folder in Gmail.
5. After that, all the emails will be migrated to the Gmail folder immediately.

Step 04: Move the Same Gmail Account to Outlook

1. Open Outlook and go to File > Add Account.
2. Enter your Gmail email address, and then click Continue.
3. Now, enter your Gmail password and click on the Continue button.
4. After that, Select IMAP and click Done.
5. Finally, all the data moves from a newly created Gmail folder to the desired Outlook folder.

Approach 02: Move Thunderbird Emails into Outlook by Drag & Drop

Another method to import Thunderbird emails into Outlook is drag and drop. Let’s discuss the workings of this approach in detail:

Step 01: Export Thunderbird Mailbox in EML Format

1. Open Thunderbird.
2. Select the mailbox folder that contains the emails you want to export.
3. Select the emails you want to export.
4. Click File > Save As.
5. In the Save As dialog box, select the folder on your computer where you want to save the exported emails and click Save.

Step 02: Move EML Files to Outlook

1. Locate the EML file(s).
2. Open Outlook.
3. Drag and drop the EML file(s) into Outlook.
4. View the imported emails in Outlook.

Limitations of Manual Process While Importing Thunderbird to Outlook

Manual solutions have some major limitations that create problems during the migration of Thunderbird to Outlook.

• Users cannot import multiple folders or their entire Thunderbird mailbox at once. This can be time-consuming if you have a large number of emails to import.
• When users import emails manually, they are imported into Outlook in a single folder. This can make it difficult to find and manage your emails.
• Some email properties, such as attachments, are not imported when users use the manual method. This can lead to missing information in your Outlook mailbox.

Final Words

The methods mentioned above can be used to import Thunderbird emails into Outlook applications with 100% data accuracy. However, we recommend using a third-party solution for bulk email migration from Thunderbird to Outlook. The third-party solution is more efficient and reliable than manual methods, but it’s the user’s choice which they want to prefer.

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