How to Migrate Thunderbird Emails to Outlook? Effortlessly

Email management is more crucial as it contains crucial information for both business and personal purposes. Outlook is one of the most preferred email clients as it has 400 millions active users and it also offers advanced features with a modern interface. Due to this most of the users want to migrate Thunderbird emails to Gmail for better productivity.
Thunderbird is an open-source desktop email client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. It’s a well-known email client for its simplicity, customizability through add-ons, and support to configure multiple email accounts. It’s a popular choice for individual and small business users for a free, versatile solution for email and calendar management.
Microsoft Outlook is an advanced email client as it offers advanced features such as email management, robust security, phishing detection, and advanced filters, and it is also part of the Microsoft Office Suite. It also offers seamless integration with other Microsoft applications such as PowerPoint, Excel, and PowerPoint, making it an ideal choice for business and individual users.

Difference Between Thunderbird and Outlook

Feature	Mozilla Thunderbird	Outlook
Target Audience	Individual and small business looking for a free email client.	Enterprise and business users looking for a robust email management such as Outlook.
Interface	Simple and Customizable with extensions	Modern and simple optimized for enhanced productivity
Email Protocols Supported	IMAP, POP or SMTP Server	IMAP, POP, SMTP, Exchange Server and Microsoft 365
Calendar Integration	Requiring the add-ons	Offers inbuilt calendar for scheduling and managing task efficiently.
Security Features	Basic encryption with spam filtering	Advanced level security with inbuilt advanced encryption, threat protection and phishing detection.
Customization	Extensive customization with themes and add-ons.	Limited customization, focus on the out of the box functionality
Integration with Tools	Limited integration with third party apps.	Deep Integration with Microsoft apps like Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive
Performance with Large Mailboxes	May lag with large size mailbox data.	Handle large mailbox data efficiently.

Purpose of Converting Thunderbird Emails to Use in Outlook

• Microsoft Outlook offers advanced email management with spam filters to keep users away from spam emails. It is also a reliable choice as it’s part of the Microsoft Office Suite.
• Many organizations use Outlook as their default email client because it’s a Microsoft product, so it’s completely trusted and can also manage large-size mailbox data.
• Outlook comes with advanced features such as superior email management, advanced filters, phishing detection, and a modern interface that’s much better compared to Thunderbird.
• It’s a specially designed application with a main focus on Enterprise and Business users looking to easily manage bulk-size mailbox data.
• Thunderbird offers only calendar add-ins, while Outlook comes with an inbuilt Thunderbird calendar feature to easily schedule tasks and events.

How to Migrate Thunderbird Emails to Outlook Using Automated Solution?

If you want to migrate your selective or whole Thunderbird mailbox data into Microsoft Outlook, So, we recommend you opt for Thunderbird Converter, as it can migrate any number of Thunderbird mailbox data, and it’s also a personal favorite utility of numerous experts, as it is specially known for instant results with maintained attributes.

Steps to Convert Thunderbird to PST

1. Download and run “Thunderbird to Outlook Converter” on your machine.
2. Click on “convert configured Thunderbird mailbox data”. If configured, otherwise select files.
3. After pressing on the next button, select “Thunderbird mailbox data” as you need to convert.
4. Now, choose the “PST File” option in the list of select saving options.
5. Browse “Filter options” and click on “Convert” to start migrating Thunderbird emails to Outlook.

Import PST to Outlook

1. First, open “Outlook” and then click on the “File” option as it appears on the upper menu.
2. Now, choose “Open and Export”, and next, click on “Import/Export”.
3. Select “Import from another program or file” and click on Next to confirm.
4. Choose the “Outlook PST file” and click “Next” to continue.
5. Browse the “PST file location” that you have converted using the Thunderbird to Outlook Converter.
6. Click on the “Finish” button to begin the Outlook file conversion.

Superlative Performance Attributes of Thunderbird to Outlook Converter

• It can migrate any number of Thunderbird profiles at one shot without facing any limitations.
• This software is specially created to migrate Thunderbird emails into PDF, PST, TXT, and 25+ file formats.
• It also offers filter options to convert mailbox data as per date range, subject, sender, recipients, exclude folders, root folder, sender blank address, receiver blank address, etc.
• With this wizard, you can also get a feature to only export contacts and calendars if required.
• This application is created with a simple initiative interface to be easily operated by any users who may be technical experts or have limited technical knowledge.

How to Import Thunderbird Mail into Outlook Manually?

To convert Thunderbird emails to use in Outlook, you must require a Gmail or IMAP-supported email account as an intermediate email service to transfer data between the two email accounts. Follow the instructions carefully:

Part 1. Enable IMAP in Gmail

1. Visit “Gmail” and enter the credentials of an intermediate email account.
2. Now, Go to the “Gear icon” and click on “See All Settings”.
3. Navigate to “Forwarding POP and IMAP” settings and click on “Enable IMAP” and press Save Changes.
4. Now, tap on “App Password” and then click on “Generate App Password”.
5. Here, select “Mail” and press “Generate App Password” and copy it and save it to a safe folder, as it will be used in configuration.

Part 2. Configure Gmail in Thunderbird

1. Now, open “Thunderbird” and click on the “Gear” icon.
2. Here, go to “Account settings” and then press on “Account Actions”.
3. Click on “Add Mail Account” and enter Gmail full name, email address, and app password.
4. After pressing on continue, it will “Auto-detect IMAP configuration” details.
5. Choose “IMAP” and click on Done.
6. Now, “Create a new folder” as Thunderbird backup and now “move the Thunderbird mailbox folder” to Thunderbird backup.

Part 3. Migrate Thunderbird emails to Outlook

1. Open “Microsoft Outlook” and click on the “File”.
2. Now, press on “Add Account” here, enter “Gmail email address” and press Continue.
3. Choose the “Manual server setups” and then choose “IMAP or POP” server.
4. Here, fill in your “Gmail” username, email address, and password.
5. Enter “Gmail IMAP configuration” details:
6. Incoming Mail Server: imap.gmail.com Port: 993 Encryption: SSL/TLS
7. Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com Port: 465 Encryption: SSL/TLS
8. Click on “Test Account” and it will auto-synchronize your Gmail mailbox data.
9. All Google Mailbox folders appear in Outlook with the Thunderbird backup folder as you have configured.
10. Now, Drag and Drop the “Thunderbird backup folder” to any Outlook folder as per user comfort.

Part 4. Export Thunderbird to PST

1. Open “Microsoft Outlook” and then navigate to the “File” option.
2. Here, click on “Open and Export” and then click on “Import/Export”.
3. Import/Export wizard will pop up on your display, choose “Export to a file”.
4. After pressing the next button, choose “Outlook PST file” and then click on the next button.
5. Browse “Outlook mailbox data” as you want to migrate.
6. Provide “Destination location” and click on “Finish” to get exported Thunderbird to PST file.

Why Do Professional Users Always Skip Manual Methods?

• This process will take many hours, depending on the size of the mailbox data. Be patient, as all emails will sync between Thunderbird, Gmail, and Outlook.
• Integrity may not be preserved the same as in Thunderbird, and there is no guarantee of getting the entire mailbox data without losing any information.
• Multiple configurations increase the possibility of data loss and file corruption.
• Stable connectivity is required to perform the entire migration.

Common Queries to Migrate Thunderbird Emails to Outlook

How do I import email addresses from Thunderbird to Outlook?

To import email addresses from Thunderbird, you need to export contacts as CSV files. Then, open Outlook > File > Open & Export > Import/Export > click on Select Import Program or File and then choose Comma Separated Value (CSV); then press Next to select the exported CSV file from Thunderbird and press Start Import.

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How do I import my calendar into Outlook?

First, export the calendar in ICS format from Thunderbird, then open Outlook and open Import/Export, then choose Import an iCalendar or vCalendar file, then press the next button to select the ICS file as you have exported from Thunderbird earlier.

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What File Format Does Thunderbird Use to Store Emails?

Thunderbird contains its mailbox data in MBOX file format and to import it in Outlook, you must have a PST file.

Final Analysis

In this guide, we have outlined the whole information with a reliable solution to migrate Thunderbird emails to Outlook by manually and using Thunderbird to Outlook Converter. The manual approach comes with lots of limitations and a very lengthy process, as it is divided into four different parts. So, we recommend you opt for the expert first choice, Thunderbird to Outlook Migration Tool, as it is specially created for instant output with preserved structure and attributes.