When it comes to the best desktop email client, Mozilla Thunderbird and Microsoft Outlook are two big names. Both programs include some useful features, but most professionals choose Outlook instead of Thunderbird for its advanced features and its simple graphical interface. However, the conversion of Thunderbird MBOX to Outlook PST seems to be difficult and since both email clients use different file formats to store data, special technical assistance is required. In order to make it easier for users to perform these data migration activities, we have made this recommendation. Here, we will introduce some simple and effective techniques to export Thunderbird emails to Outlook PST and why.
Why do users choose Outlook instead of Thunderbird?
Because Outlook is better than Thunderbird. Now, do you want to know how? Check the following list:
| Features | Mozilla Thunderbird | Microsoft Outlook |
| Security Level | High | Low |
| MAPI (Microsoft Exchange server protocol) | Not Supported | Supported |
| Email Scheduling | Not Supported | Supported |
| Email tracking read receipt collated in sent email | Not Supported | Supported |
| Support for Mobile | Not Supported | Supported |
| Email voting | Not Supported | Supported |
| View more than one calendar | Not Supported | Supported |
| Attachments in contacts | Not Supported | Supported |
| Rich text editing in notes | Not Supported | Supported |
2 Best ways to migrate email from Thunderbird to Outlook PST for free
This section describes both the methods to resolve how to convert MBOX to Outlook 2010 PST, which allows users to move an individual or multiple email files to an Outlook mailbox.
Using IMAP to Convert Emails from Thunderbird to Outlook Manually
For this process, there are certain prerequisites that need to be fulfilled. The first one is to have a configured Mozilla Thunderbird email client installed on your PC. The second prerequisite is to have a dummy Gmail account that will be during the entire process. Once you have met both these conditions, follow the steps given below:
- Log into the dummy Gmail account and click on the Gear icon on the left side of the screen.
- Select Settings, and go to the Forwarding POP/IMAP tab.
- Here, choose the Enable IMAP server option.
- Save these changes and log out from the email account.
- Now, open Thunderbird email client and go to File > New > Existing Mail account.
- Enter your name, the dummy Gmail address and password in the respective fields & click on the Continue button.
- Choose IMAP from the given options and proceed with the setup to configure the Gmail account in Thunderbird.
- Next, select and copy your emails from Thunderbird to a new folder in the Gmail account.
- Once all the emails are moved successfully, quit Thunderbird and open MS Outlook.
- Go to File and click on Add Account. In the next window, select Manual Setup and proceed to choose the IMAP account.
- Also, input imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com as Incoming and Outgoing mail server respectively.
- Hit the More Settings button and go to the Outgoing server tab to select My Outgoing server requires authentication option.
- Next, go to Advanced tab and input 993, SSL, 587, TLS in a consecutive manner from the top.
- Proceed to test the settings and finally configure the dummy Gmail account in Outlook.
- The emails transferred from Thunderbird will appear in the Gmail folder. Copy them to a new folder in your other Outlook profile to access Thunderbird emails in Outlook.
Some Shortcomings:
- This seems like an easy way but isn’t reliable to migrate emails in their original format
- The process takes a lot of time and is not suitable for Non-technical user group
Professional Solution is Far Better
The SysTools Thunderbird to Outlook program is one of the best ways to export Thunderbird emails to Outlook PST. You can access the converted PST from Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and 2003 without losing data. It is a completely autonomous and secure software that migrates email with just a few clicks. It has the ability to bulk export multiple emails from Thunderbird to Outlook PST files. The software is designed to be compatible with Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8/ 7.
1. Launch the program and click on Add file button.
2. Either add MBOX files or let the tool automatically detect Thunderbird database.
3. The software will display the complete content of added MBOX files.
4. Export selective or complete Thunderbird emails to PST format.
Observation Sentence
Emails can be migrated from Thunderbird to Outlook PST manually and automatically. As a manual technique to export Thunderbird emails to Outlook PST, they contain serious problems that will allow users to think twice before running them. Therefore, an automated method for exporting e-mails from Thunderbird to Outlook PST is also discussed here.