How to Migrate Emails from Thunderbird to Zimbra Mail? Effortlessly

Thunderbird is an open-source desktop email client and it’s widely used for business and personal purposes. It offers various features such as add-ons, email tracking, send later, add-ons, Firefox translations in Thunderbird, Inbox Management, Native Windows Notifications, Open Tab, Redesigned message header etc.

Zimbra Mail is a powerful collaboration suite that offers advanced email management, calendaring and cloud based features. Zimbra also offers free and premium versions as its free version known as Zimbra OpenSource as well as a subscription based platform called as Zimra Network Editions. But now the question arises why users want to transfer Thunderbird emails to Zimbra Mail.

Rationale for Exporting Thunderbird Emails to Zimbra Mail

• It provides advanced collaboration features making it suitable for business environments.
• Zimbra helps users to manage their emails, contacts and calendars more efficiently.
• Unlike Thunderbird local storage, Zimbra offers cloud storage with reducing data loss risk.
• It can be easily accessed from any device without depending on any specific machines.
• Organizations switching email platforms may need to move Thunderbird emails to Zimbra.

How to Migrate Emails from Thunderbird to Zimbra Mail Manually?

To transfer Thunderbird emails to Zimbra Mail manually, there are several approaches. However, each has its own limitations, so before proceeding, consider its challenges. We don’t recommend this method as it has a high possibility of data or attribute loss. But if you accept all the challenges, you can follow the manual method.

Method1. How to Export Thunderbird Emails to Zimbra Mail Using EML format?

1. Open “Thunderbird” and select email as you want to migrate.
2. Right-click on chosen emails and press on “Save As” option.
3. Select file type as “EML format” and set location.
4. Open Zimbra Desktop, navigate to the “EML file” as you have exported from Thunderbird.
5. “Drag and Drop EML files to Zimbra” and now successfully imported into Zimbra.

Method2. How to Transfer Thunderbird Emails to Zimbra Mail Using MBOX file?

1. Open “Thunderbird” and go to Tools>Add-ons and Themes.
2. Search “Import/Export NG Tools” and click on “Add to Thunderbird”.
3. Now, Right-click on the “mailbox folder” as you need to migrate.
4. Click on “Import/Export NG Tools” and click on “Export MBOX” and choose individual MBOX files.
5. Open “Zimbra Desktop” and navigate to preferences and press on Import/Export.
6. Click on “Browse” to select the exported MBOX file and press on Import.

Constraints of Manual Techniques

• Manually exporting and importing emails takes lots of time and is not reliable for large size mailbox data.
• If the migration is interrupted or mishandled, emails may get lost or corrupt.
• Thunderbird doesn’t offer inbuilt features to migrate emails directly to Zimbra Mail requiring multiple steps.
• Some email properties like attachments, metadata and folder structure might not be fully preserved.
• Users must be familiar with Thunderbird and Zimbra settings to perform the migration correctly.

Procedure to Migrate Thunderbird Emails to Zimbra Mail

1. Install and run “Thunderbird to Zimbra Migration Tool” on your machine.
2. Click on “Convert configured Thunderbird mailboxes data” as required or select files or folder as needed.
3. Preview “Thunderbird mailbox folders” as you want to transfer.
4. Choose “Zimbra” in the list of select saving options.
5. Browse destination path and press Next to start “Migrate Emails from Thunderbird to Zimbra Mail”.

Advantages of Thunderbird to Zimbra Migration Tool

• It allows you to convert any number of Thunderbird profiles at once or you can also select any specific Thunderbird files or folder as needed to migrate.
• You can also migrate Thunderbird to Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, and all IMAP Supported email services.
• With this wizard, you can also use filter options to migrate specific mailbox data as per date range, subject, sender blank address, receiver blank address, sender or recipients etc.
• This software also offers to convert Thunderbird to PDF, PST, TXT, DOC, HTML and many more export options.
• This software is completely compatible with all versions of Mac and Windows Operating systems.

Recurring Questions about Migrate Emails from Thunderbird to Zimbra Mail

Does Thunderbird support Exchange email?
Thunderbird doesn’t natively support Microsoft Exchange but can connect using IMAP, POP3, or SMTP. For full Exchange compatibility you need third party apps such as Outlook Web App application.

How much does Zimbra mail server cost?

Zimbra Mail Server pricing varies on the version. The Zimbra OpenSource is free of cost. While the Zimbra Network Edition starts from $25 per user/year. Offering premium features such as advanced security, mobile sync and backups.

How do I Connect Thunderbird to webmail?

To connect Thunderbird to Webmail, open Thunderbird and go to Account Settings and click on Add Mail Account. Enter your Thunderbird username, email and password then choose IMAP, POP as the server type and click on Done.

Ending Remarks

In this technical guide, we have outlined all tried and tested approaches to migrate emails from Thunderbird to Zimbra Mail manually and using the Thunderbird to Zimbra Migration Tool. Manual approach has lots of limitations and also a high possibility of data loss, we recommend you to opt for the Thunderbird Emails to Zimbra Mail Migration Tool as it offers fully maintained results and completes the process quickly without facing any limitations.