Aid4Mail is the best Thunderbird to Outlook converter on the market. If you don’t have it yet, you can use the free trial version or purchase a low-cost 2-week Aid4Mail Converter license.

Why is it the best? Aid4Mail has essential capabilities that competing tools are missing. For example:

• Correctly export all Thunderbird folder names to PST.
• Restore Thunderbird attachments that have been detached.
• Convert message status information (unread, read, replied, flagged, …).
• Recover emails from corrupted mailbox files (a common occurrence).

Please follow the steps below to convert Thunderbird mail to Outlook PST with Aid4Mail. For any setting that’s not specifically mentioned, you can either use the default (preset) value or consult the Aid4Mail 5 User Guide for details. You can open it from Aid4Mail by pressing the F1 key.

Step 1: Open Aid4Mail’s settings

1. In Aid4Mail, select the Settings tab.
2. Update the Session name to so it describes for the task at hand. In this example, we will be converting John Doe’s Thunderbird files to an Outlook PST file so we’ve entered John Doe Thunderbird to PST as the session name.
3. Below the session name there are three sections: Source, Target and Filter. Each can be displayed or hidden by selecting the +/- symbol next to the section heading. This tutorial requires them all to be displayed.

Step 2: Set an Thunderbird as your source

1. In the Format list, select Thunderbird.
2. Set the location of your Thunderbird files, either writing it directly in the field or by using the Select button to browse your file system.
3. Choose whether to Remove journaling envelope if your email files are journaled.

Step 3: Set a PST file as your target

1. In the Format list, select PST file.
2. Choose whether to Process using Outlook. This means using Outlook’s internal engine (MAPI) to create the PST file. Using Outlook’s engine is faster but requires Outlook to be installed on the same computer as Aid4Mail. If you don’t have Outlook installed, keep this option off.
3. Specify where you want your PST file to be saved. You can write directly in the field or use the Select button to browse your file system. You can also set a Password to protect the file.
4. Optionally, set a folder Location in PST file. This is a folder inside the PST file where your converted mail will be saved. In our example, we have set a folder called Converted mail. This folder doesn’t exist yet but Aid4Mail will create it.
5. Select an option for the Folder structure of the exported mail. Usually you’ll want to keep it the same as the original, so choose Same as source folder structure.
6. Decide whether to Limit PST file size. In our example, we’ve set it to 50GB which is the maximum file size allowed by Outlook by default. Once the file has reached its limit, newly converted emails will overflow into a second PST file. And when that one’s full then into a third PST file, and so on.

Step 4: Set your filter (optional)

1. Under Folder filtering, pick Folder selection. Your Thunderbird files folder structure will appear in the box below.
2. Select the folders you want Aid4Mail to process. The others will be skipped.

Step 5: Run your Thunderbird to PST conversion

Select the Run button or Session > Run from the menu. Aid4Mail will convert your Thunderbird files to a PST file. It will automatically open the Progress tab so you can monitor what’s going on. Once finished, you will find full reports in the Progress log and, if relevant, the Error log.

Step 6: Open the PST file in Outlook

You can do this by selecting File > Open > Outlook Data File from Outlook’s main menu (older versions of Outlook may use different menu names).

That’s it!

We hope you found this tutorial helpful in showing you why Aid4Mail is the best Thunderbird to PST converter on the market. As shown above, Aid4Mail can export Thunderbird to an Outlook PST file reliably and quickly. On top of that, Aid4Mail can preserve the folder structure of the Thunderbird files. Other tools are unable to re-create the folder structure and folder names.

If you’re looking for further information, take a look at the FAQ below. You can also consult our knowledge base articles and the Aid4Mail 5 user guide. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to contact our award-winning Helpdesk.

If you’d like to buy an Aid4Mail license, please visit the online store.

Or if you’d like to try Aid4Mail first before purchasing, download a free trial and run your own tests converting Thunderbird to PST. We want you to have full confidence in Aid4Mail!