Many people are nowadays using multiple IMAP/webmail clients due to several reasons. However, it difficult to keep track of each account. Most of the users then realize the need for a primary email client where they can easily store all their emails, calendar, and address book. Like many users, if you are also using Thunderbird to access your Gmail account, then it is understandable to export your Gmail contacts to address book of Mozilla’s Thunderbird.

So, we will be discussing techniques using which you can import your contacts from Gmail to Thunderbird.

It might also interest the user to know the benefits of Thunderbird over other email clients. The benefits are listed below with brief explanations:

• Unread Folders: If you have many emails, then you may not want to browse from the whole folder list looking for unread emails. In Thunderbird, the user can open the Unread Folder to view all the unread emails.
• Open Source Add-ons: It has a rich community of developers for add-ons. Moreover, one can always develop their Add-ons.
• Junk Mail Filtering: By flagging spam messages in Thunderbird, the user is training Thunderbird to recognize what you consider spam.
• Sort By: The user can choose from a variety of sorting options to make finding messages in your folders much easier. One can quickly sort by date, order received, priority, status, sender, read, tags, attachments, junk status, ascending, descending, etc.

How to Sync Thunderbird Contacts with Gmail?

Now, when we have discussed a bit about Thunderbird and Thunderbird contacts. We have also discussed the importance of syncing emails with Gmail. Let’s now discuss the process of doing so. So, follow the below-mentioned steps one by one to sync Thunderbird contacts with Gmail:

1. Method 1 – Export Gmail Contacts to Thunderbird Manually
2. Method 2 – Sync Thunderbird Contacts with Gmail Using a ‘gContactSync’ Extension
3. Method 3 – Sync Thunderbird Contacts with Gmail Using ‘Google Contacts’ Extension
4. Automated Method – Kernel for MBOX to PST

Method 1 – Export Gmail Contacts to Thunderbird Manually

To export Gmail contacts to Thunderbird, one must first save it to a .csv file. The simplified steps are mentioned below:

1. Open Gmail and click on the Google apps icon and hit Contacts.
   
2. The Contacts will now open in a new browser window. Now check all the Contacts that you would like to export.
3. Next, click on More actions icon and click Export.
   
4. Export as Outlook CSV. The .csv file will be auto-downloaded to your downloads folder.
5. Now open Thunderbird and click on the Menu tab > Tools > Import.
6. Check on the Address Books option and hit Next.
7. From the list, choose Text File option and hit Next.
8. Select the address book that you downloaded earlier and hit Next.
9. Select the appropriate options for each contact and click Next. Once done, click, OK.
10. To check whether you have successfully imported the contact, go to the Address book tab.

Congratulations, you have successfully imported your Gmail contacts into Thunderbird.

Method 2 – Sync Thunderbird Contacts with Gmail Using a ‘gContactSync’ Extension

Now the user can also sync Thunderbird contacts with Gmail using a handy extension. This add-on is available on the Add-ons manager and is known as gContactSync. The steps to install this Add-on are outlined below:

1. In Thunderbird Menu bar and look for Add-ons > click on Add-ons.
2. This will open the Add-on Manager tab. Now search for Browse all add-ons tab (can be found in the right pane). Next, Search for gContactSync and add it to Thunderbird.
3. Now install the add-on.
   
4. Next, you will be prompted to restart Thunderbird.
5. Enter your email address and hit Next.
6. Click Next.

   

7. Enter your Gmail password and hit Next.
8. Click on Allow to proceed.
9. Click Finish.
10. Next, you will get a notification message, so click OK.
11. To check if you have successfully imported all the contacts, go to the Address book.

Congratulations, you have successfully imported all your Gmail contacts to Thunderbird.

Method 3 – Sync Thunderbird Contacts with Gmail Using ‘Google Contacts’ Extension

Due to the growing popularity of Thunderbird browser and it’s unique features, developers are also keenly working on providing solutions to common problems faced by the users. As a result, we have found another extension that can be used to sync your Google contacts on Mozilla Thunderbird. It is named as ‘Google Contacts’. You can follow the same steps as described in Method 2 with just the difference of searching for ‘Google Contacts’ instead of ‘gContactSync’ to install the extension.

Once the extension is installed, restart your browser. It will ask details such as gmail account email id and request access for Google contacts. After that, it will create a new address book named as Google-accountname for each of the google accounts provided. You can later edit the name of the address book as per your choice. The extension will automatically retrieve and sync Google contacts everytime the Thunderbird is started. It is to be noted that if you delete the address book from the Thunderbird browser then the contacts will no longer be synchronized.

Limitations of the Manual Methods

sync Thunderbird contacts with Gmail, using manual methods is a quite lengthy and cumbersome process. Moreover, to sync calendar, contacts, and emails, the user must follow a separate procedure for each item. Therefore, it is always easier to use professional third-party software which can sync all the Google service items.

Automated Method – Kernel for MBOX to PST

Although many users still prefer to use Thunderbird over any other desktop client, the reality is most of users and corporations prefer MS Outlook these days. It is much easier to work with Outlook PST files in comparison to Thunderbird’s MBOX file format. If you are thinking of migrating from MBOX to PST file format, then we recommend Kernel for MBOX to PST converter. It is a highly advanced tool for Thunderbird to PST conversion. After installing the program, the welcome window displays a message that the tool can convert MBOX emails of 20 emails clients to Outlook.

Conclusion

This blog briefly explains how one can synchronize Thunderbird address book with Gmail Contacts. I really like the format the writer has followed, educating content and simple solutions are the reasons I would like to keep following blogs on this site. It was a great read. Thanks!