How to migrate e-mail messages from KMail to Tunderbird?

[charlesnadeau]

I just built a new computer to replace my old one. On the old one I was using KMail as my e-mail client. The e-mail messages are stored in maildir format. On my new machine I want to use Thunderbird as my e-mail client. What do I need to do to migrate my existing e-mail messages from the old box to the new box? Is it simply a question of moving /home/Mail/ from the old machine to new machine (where does Thunderbird stores it e-mail messages?)?

Thanks!

Charles

[schachti]

Thunderbird uses the mbox format, so you need a tool to do the conversion maildir --> mbox. Another solution: Use KMail to move the messages to an IMAP server, and thunderbird to move the messages from the IMAP server to the local inbox.

[ZZamboni]

IThe e-mail messages are stored in maildir format. On my new machine I want to use Thunderbird as my e-mail client. What do I need to do to migrate my existing e-mail messages from the old box to the new box?

I would suggest keeping them in maildir format, and setting up a local IMAP server to access them. This gives you the freedom to switch to other email clients in the future without having to worry about migrating your messages again (as long as the email client has IMAP support).

I use dovecot, and it works perfectly as a local IMAP server. I wrote some notes about it here. In your case, it should be even simpler, since the messages are already in maildir format, so no conversion is necessary.

[charlesnadeau]

I would suggest keeping them in maildir format, and setting up a local IMAP server to access them. This gives you the freedom to switch to other email clients in the future without having to worry about migrating your messages again (as long as the email client has IMAP support).

I use dovecot, and it works perfectly as a local IMAP server. I wrote some notes about it here. In your case, it should be even simpler, since the messages are already in maildir format, so no conversion is necessary.

Should I install the IMAP server on my workstation or on my file server?
Then in KMail I would just drag'n'drop my folders to the IMAP server and that's it? If it is, it is simpler than I thought...
Thanks!

Charles

[ZZamboni]

Should I install the IMAP server on my workstation or on my file server?
Then in KMail I would just drag'n'drop my folders to the IMAP server and that's it? If it is, it is simpler than I thought...

You can install the IMAP server anywhere you want, although having it in your local machine makes it possible to access your email even when you don't have a network connection.

You could drag-and-drop the folders from KMail, but it might be considerably faster to just copy/move the directories themselves from wherever kmail stores them to the location where the IMAP server will look for them. Since both use maildir format, it should be OK.

[Mark Clegg]

I put my IMAP server on my desktop, and run KMail on my laptop in Cached IMAP mode,

I have my POP3 account setup on both, so I can access my mail on either machine. However, because the laptop is in cached mode, I can still use it when the desktop isn't turned on, and just sync them up when they're both on.