Are you looking to export Thunderbird emails to Excel? Do you want to maintain a systematic copy of your Thunderbird emails into CSV format?
If so, then you have come to the right platform!
Thunderbird is an open source email client application. It can be configured free of cost. It has simple and easy to operate user interface. It has sufficient features due to which it has a customer base of around 9 million people.
When the user has a number of mails in his mailbox then it becomes necessary to organize them properly.
The need to export Thunderbird emails to Excel is due to the following reasons:
- Proper organization of emails
- Easy to maintain and view all the emails in a systematic manner
- It is easier to send CSV format file over the mail
- It becomes important to maintain a repository of emails which may get deleted from the server over a period of time
Methods to export Thunderbird mails to Excel or CSV format
There are possibly two methods in order to export Thunderbird mails to Excel or CSV format:
- Manual Method
- Automated Method
Manual Method
Manual method is a method which can be executed any time without any charges.
The free of cost manual method to convert Thunderbird to CSV file format is to install and use ‘ImportExportTools NG’ add-on feature in the Thunderbird application. Thunderbird can be run on Mac or Windows Operating Systems and it supports MBOX files.
The ‘ImportExportTools NG’ is simple and easy to use which is available free of cost.
The following are steps to convert Thunderbird emails which are in MBOX file format into CSV file format using ‘ImportExportTools NG’ tool:
- Open the Thunderbird email application.
- Right click on the mailbox containing MBOX files to be converted into CSV file format.
- Select ‘ImportExportTools NG’ option, choose ‘Export all messages from folder’ and then click on ‘Spreadsheet (CSV)’.
- Save the MBOX emails on your system in a single CSV file format.
The process of converting Thunderbird emails to Excel is quite simple. However, it has certain limitations.
The limitations of converting Thunderbird emails to Excel using ‘ImportExportTools NG’ tool are as follows:
- There are the high chances of losing out the vital parts of the emails in your resultant CSV file
- It will discard all the attachments linked to your emails
- Some of the email messages would be skipped or missing in the resultant CSV file format
- The email ids in ‘To’ section are found missing
- The message in the content body seem to be missing
- There is a possibility of repetition and redundancy of the email data
- There is a limitation on character count for subject matter
Due to the above reasons, the need arises to export Thunderbird emails to Excel using the professional automated method as ‘MBOX Converter’ tool.
Automated Method: MBOX Converter Tool
The following are the steps to convert Thunderbird emails into CSV file format using the ‘MBOX to CSV Converter’ tool:
1. Install and Launch the ‘Mac MBOX Converter’ tool.
2. Click on ‘Add File(s)’ and ‘Add Folder(s)’.
- Add File(s): It allows to add the single/multiple MBOX files. Browse and select the MBOX files and then click on ‘Open’ button.
- Add folder(s): It allows to add the folder or folders containing MBOX files. Browse and select the folder containing MBOX files and then click on ‘Choose’ button.
3. You can view the file path and the corresponding file size. Then, click on ‘Next’ button.
4. In the opened window, click on ‘CSV’ radio button.
- Maintain Folder Hierarchy: It allows to maintain the folder hierarchy in the same order as in the original format.
- Selective Export: You can select/deselect the folders to convert them into CSV file format.
5. Click on the Advanced Settings button. Date filter helps to select and export the emails of the specific duration. Then click on ‘Save’ button.
6. You can set the destination location where you want to save the CSV file format by clicking on ‘Change’ button. Then, click on ‘OK’ button.
7. You can view the destination path and then click on ‘Export’ button.
8. The export process will begin now. The software will show the export status.
9. A confirmation box will appear, once the export is completed. Then, click on ‘OK’ button.
10. You can click on ‘View Report’ to view the Export process report.
11. The software will open the folder directory and show you the ‘Export Report’ which has been created.
12. You can view the complete details such as mail count, fail count, source path path and the export status in the ‘Export Report’.
13. You can check the destination location to find the converted MBOX files into CSV file format.
14. Open the CSV files in Excel to view the content.
Final Thoughts
In this blog, a brief on Thunderbird, the need to export Thunderbird emails to CSV format, and the possible methods to export Thunderbird emails to Excel have been explained. The manual method is not preferred due to its certain limitations. However, the automated method ‘Mac MBOX Converter’ helps to export the Thunderbird emails to Excel in CSV file format successfully. It ensures data integrity without any loss of data.
