Windows Live Mail :- Moving From

Windows live mail uses a very different method to Thunderbird to store emails. In Thunderbird a single file is used to store all mail in a single folder. In windows live mail mail is stored as individual EML files in the mail folders.

There is at this point no direct import for those wishing to move from Live mail to Thunderbird. It is however possible.

Limitations of Thunderbird V's Windows Live Mail

While it is not apparent until you set up your accounts in Thunderbird, you will only get to download your inbox from Live.  Whilst I have placed this under a heading that indicates it is a limitation of Thunderbird, in reality it is not.  It is a limitation on the method allowed by live to retrieve your mail.
Mail accounts almost universally fall into one of two standards for Mail, IMAP and POP.  Live only offers the POP protocol, and POP is so old, that it does not even foresee that their might ever be anything on a mail server other than an inbox with mail.

 The windows Live mail program get around this, because it does not use a mail protocol to get your mail. Instead it simply synchronises the files that make up your mail account between it's servers and your computer.  Thunderbird does not have access to this process as it is a mail program built on standards, not a file synchronization utility.  So the bottom line is Thunderbird will get your inbox mail, and nothing else.

Getting it all together

1. Install Thunderbird and the import/Export tools extension. Installing an extension is discussed here
2. Create your accounts in Thunderbird.

The process


In windows live mail, starting with the Tools menu select Options then the advanced tab followed by the maintenance button  Finally select the store folder button.  This will show you exactly where Live Mail keeps your mail.

Use the import export tools entry on the Tools menu in Thunderbird and select the import all EML files from a directory, then the an it's sub directories menu option.  Navigate the file picker to the location shown by Windows Live Mail and let it do it's thing.  Now all of your mail and folders should be imported to Thunderbird under the Local folders in your folder tree.

Export your contacts from Live as a CSV file and import that into Thunderbird using Import on the Tools menu. Just be sure to click on the addressbook in the next window. Everything will not work.

Conclusion

If you are migrating from Live with Hotmail, your new account in Thunderbird will be a POP account. This means that the contents of the inbox only will be downloaded to Thunderbird. The contents of other folders in the live mail account will not come over into Thunderbird. Any filtering of mail on the Live Web site into folders will result in new mails being filed, but not downloaded to your Thunderbird inbox.

This means that any and all filtering needs to be turned off so that ALL mail actually gets to your inbox.