Import Outlook Express mail into Mozilla Thunderbird

Finally moving my parents off a Windows XP machine running Outlook Express. Their new PC will run Thunderbird.

Old Thunderbird versions apparently imported OE directly. Does that still work and what if not?

The direct import died years ago: it relied on Outlook Express being installed on the same machine, which rules out any modern PC. Today the move is DBX files off the old machine, converted to a format Thunderbird eats.

1

On the XP machine find the mail store: in Outlook Express, Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder shows the path. Copy every .dbx file there to a USB stick, including Folders.dbx.

2

Convert the DBX files to EML on the new PC with a DBX converter, SysTools DBX Converter keeps one output directory per mailbox so the folder layout survives.

3

In Thunderbird install the ImportExportTools NG add-on, create a local folder per mailbox, right click each, ImportExportTools NG, Import messages and select that mailbox's EML directory.

4

Compare a few folder counts against Outlook Express before the XP machine goes to recycling.

Grab the OE address book too while the old machine lives: it is a separate .wab file, exportable from the Address Book window via File, Export, Other Address Book, Text File. That CSV imports into Thunderbird's address book directly. People remember the mail and forget the addresses, then the XP box is gone.

All 11 DBX files converted and imported, folder counts match. Address book CSV caught 200 contacts I would have forgotten entirely.