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Windows Live Mail is a free application developed by Microsoft in 2007. It was included with Windows Vista and was widely accepted during that time. This mail client is a part of Windows Essential, which supports Windows 7 or earlier versions. Microsoft discontinued Windows Live Mail after it reached its end of life on 10th Jan 2017. It means that Microsoft will no longer provide updates and technical support for the specific mail client. Despite this, many users are still using it. The recent update in the Mozilla Thunderbird offered an innovative way for users to replace Windows Live Mail with Thunderbird.
Finding it difficult to switch from Windows Live Mail to Thunderbird? Importing your data can help simplify the process. With these methods, you can effortlessly transfer your emails, contacts, and other valuable data to Thunderbird. The process might seem difficult at first, but our step-by-step guide will help you do it easily. Follow the methods to import Windows Live Mail to Thunderbird.
In Windows Live Mail, the emails are stored in the .eml file format. To convert EML to MBOX, we need to export the EML file of Windows Live Mail and import it to Thunderbird. This task is not complicated until you don’t have thousands of EML files to import. To perform this, there are two methods available that are listed below:
Importing EML files to MBOX will help you avoid many Windows live mail issues. You can perform the manual method by using two different approaches that are as follows:
To import Windows Live Mail into Thunderbird using the Import Export approach, you need to use the Import Export add-in. But note that this utility is not available for users using the newer version of Thunderbird because this approach is not available after Thunderbird 78. The Import Export Wizard approach includes two phases that are listed below:
To follow this method, you need to know the location of EML files. First, you need to install the ImportExport add-on from the official add-on page of Thunderbird. Next, install the ImportExport add-on in the Mozilla Thunderbird by following the below steps:
As you might have noticed, the above approach is time-consuming and includes a risk of data loss. Also, you can’t use this method if you are using the latest version of Thunderbird. Hence, this approach is not recommended for importing EML files to Thunderbird. You can use the below approaches for achieving the same.
This approach is much simpler than the previous one, which can be executed by following the below steps:
This approach is quite simple but provides limited functionality. You can’t find and exclude unwanted mail using this approach. Also, it can import a limited amount of EML files; you need to import files in small portions if you have too many EML files.
The automated solution uses third-party tools to import Windows Live Mail to Thunderbird. Nowadays, though many tools are available in the market, finding the most suitable one may be difficult. You must select an innovative tool like Kernel for MBOX to PST to achieve your desired needs. It can convert EML files to Thunderbird MBOX file format and is able to filter emails by different criteria such as From, To, Date, Subject, etc. In addition, it also offers a live preview of items before saving the mail in the desired location.
This blog has shown all the possible methods to import Windows Live Mail into Thunderbird. The Import Export method is limited to a few versions of Thunderbird. Hence, this is not always feasible. Another manual method, i.e., Drag and drop, is much simpler than the previous one but has limited application.
As a result, the automated method is considered the best solution and can best fit all your needs. You can filter the emails based on different criteria such as From, To, Date, Subject, etc. It also offers a live preview of items before saving the mail in the desired location.
Ans. The extension file for a Windows Live Mail data file is EML (. eml). This type of file is important because it contains all of the email messages, attachments & settings that make up a user’s mailbox.
Ans. Both offer similar features including handling email from multiple accounts, there are some key differences between the two. Windows Live Mail takes things up a notch by adding support for popular web-based email accounts like Hotmail, Gmail & Yahoo Mail. Also, it has a different user interface that matches other Windows Live services known as “Wave 2.”