How to Migrate Thunderbird to Apple Mail/Mac Mail?

Admin ~ January 28, 2025 ~ 6 Minutes Reading

There are lots of users who are looking for the right email client for beneficial email service. Due to this, users look to migrate Thunderbird to Apple Mail. Thunderbird is a widely used open-source email client known for its customization and advanced features. But Thunderbird lagged behind as compared to Apple Mail. So, we have decided to write a blog to share the top rates methods to migrate emails from Thunderbird to Apple Mail manually and using Thunderbird to MBOX Converter.

Apple Mail, known as Mac Mail, is the default email client for macOS. It offers seamless integration with the Apple services, and it makes it a popular choice for Mac users as it offers a simple initiative interface. If you are switching to Mac platform, opting Apple Mail is the right choice to adopt the Apple Mail ecosystem.

Cause to Migrate Emails from Thunderbird to Apple Mail

  • It is specially designed to work seamlessly with Apple Mail products such as Siri, search, and system notifications providing a unified and convenient user experience.
  • Apple Mail is specially designed for Mac OS hardware. It increases performance and reduces loading time as compared to Thunderbird.
  • With its simple and clean interface, users can easily manage their mailbox data and also offer seamless experience with maintained data.
  • Apple Mail supports iCloud drive, which allows you to synchronize emails, contacts, and calendar in cloud storage.
  • Thunderbird supports multiple platforms, but sometimes it shows compatibility issues with MacOS.

How to Migrate Thunderbird to Apple Mail using Thunderbird to Mac Mail Migration Tool?

If you have multiple Thunderbird profiles or multiple Thunderbird email accounts required to migrate, we recommend you choose Thunderbird Converter as it allows users to migrate selectively or whole Thunderbird mailbox data without facing any limitations. This software has been completely developed with advanced algorithms and makes source mailbox data unaffected.

Steps to Migrate Thunderbird to Apple Mail

  1. Download “Thunderbird to Mac Migration Tool” on your system.Launch Thunderbird to Apple Mail Migration Tool
  2. Click on “Convert Configure Mailboxes data” and press the next button.Select Convert configured Thunderbird mailbox
  3. Select the “Thunderbird mailbox folder” as you want to migrate.choose Thunderbird mailbox folder
  4. Browse “MBOX file” in the list of select saving options.Choose MBOX file
  5. Press Next button to “browse location” and click on Next.Provide destination path
  1. Run “Apple Mail” and click on the file.
  2. Press “Import Mailboxes” and click on MBOX files.
  3. Choose the “converted MBOX file” and press on Import.

Benchmark attributes of Thunderbird to Mac Migration Tool

  • This software can also migrate Thunderbird to Outlook, Windows Live Mail, Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com and all IMAP Supported email platforms.
  • It offers dual mode to select Thunderbird multiple files or whole folder and it also offers configure Thunderbird mailboxes data.
  • This software specially creates an initiative interface to easily handle by any corporate users or may have individual users.
  • You can also convert Thunderbird to EML, PDF, PST, EML, and many more export features.
  • With this wizard, you can also use advanced filters to convert data as per date range, from, to, sender blank address, receiver blank address, exclude folder, root folder etc.

How to Migrate Emails from Thunderbird to Apple Mail Manually?

Migrating Thunderbird emails to Apple Mail manually requires a few simple steps. While this process may take some time, it’s effective for those users. Follow this guide below you to migrate Thunderbird to Mac Mail:
Part1. Prepare Thunderbird for Export

  1. Open “Thunderbird” and click on the menu.
  2. Click on “Add-ons and Themes” and search “Import/Export NG Tools”.Click on Add-ons and Themes
  3. Press on “Add to Thunderbird” and click on Ok.
  4. Select the “Email or folder” as you want to migrate.
  5. Right-click on it and select “Import/Export NG Tools”.
  6. After that, Tap on “export MBOX file” and then press on “Folder export(MBOX)”.Click on Import MBOX Files
  7. Click on “As MBOX file” and choose a destination to store the MBOX file.

Part2. Setup Apple Mail

  1. Launch “Apple Mail” on your Mac OS.
  2. If you haven’t already an “Apple Mail account” then configure a “new email account”.
  3. Go to “Mail” and click on “Add Account” and fill your email credentials.

Part3. Import MBOX files in Apple Mail

  1. Go to file and click on “Import Mailboxes”.
  2. Select “MBOX files” from the list of file types to import.
  3. Locate the “MBOX file” as you have exported from Thunderbird.
  4. Click on “Continue” and browse a destination folder within Apple Mail for the imported emails.

Challenges of Manual Approach

  • Some attachments or email may not be transferred perfectly.
  • If you have a large number of emails or have multiple email accounts required to migrate takes lots of time.
  • User must be familiar with both Thunderbird and Apple Mail platforms to perform it manually.
  • It doesn’t allow you to transfer batch folders and accounts.

Common Questions about Migrate Thunderbird to Apple Mail

How do I Migrate to Apple Mail?

To migrate emails to Apple Mail you must have configured Apple Mail on Mac OS and then you can export the MBOX file from Thunderbird and easily import into Apple Mail or you can also directly import into Apple Mail using Thunderbird to Mac Mail Migration Tool.


Can you Export all emails from Thunderbird?

Yes, you can export all emails from Thunderbird using Import/Export NG Tools add-ons and you can select emails or the whole Thunderbird mailbox folder preserving all email data.


Why don’t I receive emails on Apple Mail?

If you’re not receiving emails on Apple Mail, verify your account settings are entered correctly, including incoming server details. Check your connectivity, email password, and whether any firewall or security software is blocking mail. Restarting the app or device is required.

Closing Remarks

In this post, we have outlined an effective approach to migrate Thunderbird to Apple Mail. As the manual approach is not a reliable option for migrating large-sized mailbox data, we recommend opting for the Thunderbird to Apple Mail Migration Tool. It allows you to migrate selectively or any number of mailbox items without facing size limitations. Additionally, it offers a free trial edition to evaluate the software’s performance and all its beneficial features without any restrictions.