How to Export Thunderbird Emails to CSV? 2025 Updated

Admin ~ January 21, 2025 ~ 6 Minutes Reading

Nowadays, most users ask how to export Thunderbird emails to CSV. If you also have the same query, keep reading this post to find the solution. We have thoroughly researched the solution, and here we are going to explain the best and easiest approach recommended by experts.

Thunderbird is an open-source email client application for computers. It enables users to access multiple email accounts simultaneously without signing out. Mozilla Thunderbird can easily operate on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. It allows users to send and receive emails for communication without opening the webmail interface. It’s specially designed for both personal and professional users.

CSV stands for Comma Separated Values. It stores data in tabular form for easy management and can be accessed in various applications such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Open Office Calc, and Numbers for Mac. It organizes data in rows and columns for easy management and can be accessed offline, which is highly beneficial for users who travel frequently or have limited connectivity.

Purpose to Thunderbird Export Emails to CSV

  • CSV file organizes its data such as sender, recipients, subject, email body in a tabular format to easily analyze email trends, patterns and volumes.
  • For those users migrating from Thunderbird to another platform, CSV files offer an intermediate format to map and organize email details for the new environment.
  • CSV files are lightweight file format and ensure that your data is accessible and preserved.
  • Businesses can use exported CSV files to generate detailed email communication reports, aiding in project tracking or environment or customer service reviews.
  • CSV files allow long term archiving of non-sensitive email data in a compact and easily retrievable format and it’s too beneficial for future reference.

How to Export Thunderbird Emails to CSV Using Thunderbird to CSV Converter?

If you want to Thunderbird export emails to CSV, then we recommend you to choose Thunderbird Converter as it allows you to convert a single or batch number of Thunderbird profiles at one shot. It also offers fully maintained attributes without losing any single information. This software has been specially developed with an advanced algorithm to convert Thunderbird emails, contacts, and calendar and offers the same output as appears on your Thunderbird and without affecting any single attributes.

Steps to Thunderbird Export Emails to CSV File

  1. Download and launch “Thunderbird to CSV Converter” on your system.Launch Thunderbird to CSV Converter
  2. Click on “configured Thunderbird mailboxes” to convert.Convert configured Thunderbird mailboxes data
  3. Now, choose the “Thunderbird mailbox folder” as you needed to convert.Select Thunderbird mailbox folder
  4. Choose a “CSV file” in the various options of select saving feature.Select CSV file
  5. Browse “destination” and select “advanced filter” as per required.Browse destination
  6. Now, Press “Next” button to start “Thunderbird export emails to CSV”.Start Thunderbird export emails to CSV

Notable Attributes of Thunderbird to CSV Converter

  • You can also convert Thunderbird to PDF, EML, MBOX, HTML, TXT and 28+ select saving features.
  • It offers dual mode to select Thunderbird files or folders and also can detect and configure Thunderbird profile automatically.
  • This software can convert individual or multiple Thunderbird users without facing any limitations.
    You can also migrate Thunderbird to Outlook, Maildir, Windows Live Mail, Zimbra and all IMAP supported email services.
  • With this wizard, you can also use filter options to select Thunderbird mailbox data as per date range, from, to, subject, exclude folders, root folder, sender blank Address, Receiver Blank Address etc.

How to Thunderbird Export Emails to CSV Manually?

To manually export Thunderbird emails to CSV file then you need to be installed Import/Export NG Tools in your Mozilla Thunderbird then you can follow the approach as we have mentioned below:

  1. First, open “Thunderbird” and click on the “Menu” icon as appears on the right corner.
  2. Now, Click on “Add-ons and Themes” and search “Import/Export NG Tools”.
  3. Click on “Add to Thunderbird” and pop-up appears on your screen press OK option.
  4. Now, Right-click on the “Mailbox folder” as you want to export.
  5. Click on “Import/Export NG Tools” and click on “Export All Messages in Folder”.
  6. Now, Choose “CSV format(Spreadsheet)” as appears in the list.
  7. Select the “destination directory” and click on Select Folder to start “Thunderbird export emails to CSV”.

Hurdles of Manual Methods

  • You need to follow whole steps to export each folder from Thunderbird.
  • This approach is not a reliable choice to export multiple Thunderbird profiles.
  • It may lose its formatting, making it harder to read or interpret without cleaning or reformatting the CSV file.
  • The exported CSV file can only contain email metadata such as subject, sender, recipients, date and it doesn’t include the email body and Attachments.
  • You need to install add-ons and perform it manually, which may not be suitable for all types of users.

How to Export Thunderbird Contacts to CSV File?

If you only want to export contacts from Thunderbird to CSV file then you can perform the instructions as we have stated below:

  1. First, Launch “Mozilla Thunderbird” on your pc.
  2. Press “CTRL+Shift+B” to access your contacts.
  3. Now, Right-click on “Personal Address Book” or “Collected Address Book”.
  4. Click on “Export” options and enter file Name and choose path.
  5. Press the Save button to “export Thunderbird contacts to CSV file”.

Help Questions about Thunderbird Export emails to CSV file

How do I create a CSV file for email?
To create a CSV file for email, launch Mozilla Thunderbird then press CTRL+Shift+B to go to Address Book, select Address Book and right-click on it to press on Export and enter file name, choose path and select file type as CSV file.


How do I save emails to a local folder in Thunderbird?
Right click on the local folder in Thunderbird and select New folder and enter folder name then press on Create folder. Then drag and drop emails from your account into the local folder. This saves the emails locally for offline access and ensures data backup.


How do I export all my emails from Thunderbird?
Use an add-on like Import/ExportTools NG. Install it via Thunderbird’s Add-ons Manager. Right-click a folder, choose Import/ExportTools NG > Export all messages in the folder, select a format like EML or MBOX, and save the emails to your desired location.

Final Thoughts

In this guide, we have outlined one of the best approaches to export Thunderbird emails to a CSV file manually and using Thunderbird to CSV Converter. In addition, we have also shared quick methods to export Thunderbird contacts to CSV. After comparing all of the methods, we found that the Thunderbird to CSV Migration Tool is the best choice as it can export emails, contacts, and calendars and also offers full assurance of achieving accurate results without affecting any information.