I’ve been wanting to try using IMAP for my emails, and I found out that my existing email client (the bat!) seemed to have poor support for IMAP.

So I decided to switch to a more mainstream email client. I decided on Mozilla Thunderbird.

My first hurdle was moving thousands of emails in about 200 folders, into thunderbird.

I found the only realistic way to do it was folder by folder.

In theBat!, I would select all the emails in a folder, then tools -> export -> unix mailbox

Then give the file a name… usually the same name as the folder you are exporting from, and save it to c:documents and settings{username}Application Datathunderbirdprofiles{long string of letters and numbers}MailLocal Folders

Repeat the process for all folders

Start Thunderbird, and all the exported folders will appear in Local Folders

Just drag and drop them to the correct place.

NOTE: I tried to make it easier by duplicating my TheBat! folder structure in thunderbirds “Local Folders”, only to find that Thunderbird will not show the contents of exported unix files unless they are directly in Local folders.

Hmmm, not a promising start.