Migrate Outlook Express and Windows Address Book to Apple Mail and Address Book using Mozilla Thunderbird

Last week I helped an uncle switch from using Windows XP on an old PC to a new 20" iMac with MacOS 10.5 (Leopard). I volunteered to help him move his e-mail from Outlook Express to Apple Mail and move his address book from Windows to the Mac's built-in Address Book application. Here are the steps that worked successfully:

1. Back up the directory "C:\Documents and Settings\{USERNAME}\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{PROFILE-SPECIFIC KEY}\Microsoft\Outlook Express" in which you'll find the *.dbx files (mail folder database files).


2. Back up the directory "C:\Documents and Settings\{USERNAME}\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book" in which you'll find your {USERNAME}.wab file.


3. Import the Outlook Express e-mail and Microsoft Address Book into Mozilla Thunderbird for WINDOWS (note: the Mac version doesn't have the ability to do this). If the old PC is too clunky to do this efficiently, use a separate profile on a different PC with the backups you took in Steps 1 & 2 (e.g. I used my own laptop).


4. Export the Thunderbird contacts to an LDIF file (Lightweight Directory Interchange Format). Save it in your Thunderbird profile folder for convenience (this is simpler than exporting to vCard files).


5. Copy the Thunderbird profile folder (e.g. in "C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\" on Windows XP) to your Mac. You don't need to actually install Thunderbird for Mac, just put the folder on your desktop.


6. In Apple Mail, you can import the mail from the Thunderbird profile backup that you copied from the PC to the Mac. Many others have done this successfully, such as FineWine on MacTalk.


7. In Apple Address book, you can import the LDIF file that you copied from your PC to your Mac.

Happy Mac!