Thunderbird Address Book Not Saving

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[LHiggins]

Hello,

I have started using Thunderbird again for my email client (long story involving an APPCRASH with WLM that now won’t work). I have an older version of TB – 68.12 – that I had used about a year ago. I have run into a strange issue since getting it back up and running. I now can’t seem to make any changes to the address book – can’t delete any addresses or add any new ones. The changes will appear to take, but when I close the program and reopen it, they are gone and it is back to the way it started – nothing deleted, nothing added.

Any ideas how to fix that issue?

Thanks!

ETA – just tried this –  created a new address book with a different name and added a few – seems to have saved those. I’ll keep an eye on it and see if I can eventually delete the old address book once I know that new contacts were actually saved in the new address book.

 

• This topic was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by LHiggins.

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Thunderbird has multiple address books.
Personal Address Book – ones you add
Collected Addtesses – from ones typed in the “to:” box, or from received emails
Another that seems to come from my contacts

If you highlight the top “”All Address Books” you see the three treed underneath (and get the contents of all of them)

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Thanks! And yes, I can see them all – the problem is, if I try to add or change or delete an address – either manually or through a reply to email – it goes into the address book (or appears to be deleted) – whichever one I specify – but later when I close and reopen the program, whatever changes I made aren’t saved and it reverts back to the way it was before I tried changing things.

Having said that – so far, the changes I made to the new address book that I created do appear to be holding – but whatever I do to the Collected and Personal address books – either to add or delete – is lost when the program closes and reopens. And all of them show up in the All Addresses book – even ones I no longer want.

Very strange…I guess I’ll just work with the one I created, but there should be a way to delete addresses and not have them return each time the program starts.

Thanks!!

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1 – Has the (same) Profile been used for multiple versions of TB?
That is, the Profile originated(?) with 68. Then a later version [78 and/or 91] was installed or tested with, using that Profile. And now, 68 is back and using the Profile?

2 – Address Book – Only one, or across several? Personal, Collected, or one(s) that you defined? (Your later post indicates both Personal and Collected.)

Your test with a new AB was a good idea.

Test procedure:
3 – In Address Book: Tools > Export.
Important: Select only one AB at a time. Do not have ‘All Address Books’ selected/highlighted.
Note where it/they are Saved.

4 – Create a new Profile; it needn’t be fully configured at this point.
Tools > Import – and bring in the AB(s) that were Exported in 3.
Can you then do Editing successfully?

More to come, depending upon the answers to 1, 2, 4.
The ‘cleanest/surest’ recovery is to transfer everything to a new profile. But the present profile may be usable with some grafting or surgery.

1 user thanked author for this post.

LHiggins

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Hi PaulK and thanks for your suggestions. I’ll try to answer them in order!

PaulK wrote:

1 – Has the (same) Profile been used for multiple versions of TB? That is, the Profile originated(?) with 68. Then a later version [78 and/or 91] was installed or tested with, using that Profile. And now, 68 is back and using the Profile?

I believe that there has only ever been one profile for this “user” – always me – and never any other versions of TB – just 68. There is now only one profile showing for this user. I have several users on this laptop – all were for tests – none that I use, but when I look into the AppData for them, there are several other profiles for those users. Would that affect this profile?

PaulK wrote:

2 – Address Book – Only one, or across several? Personal, Collected, or one(s) that you defined? (Your later post indicates both Personal and Collected.)

I have these: All Address Books and within that are Person, Collected and New Test – the one I set up to try to add/remove addresses.

PaulK wrote:

(About?) how many Contacts are there in each of the three Address Books? The count is at the bottom-left corner of the screen.

The total is 17 in All, 3 are in Personal, 7 are in Collected and 7 are in New Test. As I really never used this much except for testing, there aren’t many addresses – which may beg the question of why bother worrying about deleting a few?

However – TB was my main email when I used this laptop with Linux – though Linux was run from a USB SSD – not installed on the HDD for the laptop, if that might make any difference. That is long gone now – so I’d have no way to check or do anything with it.

PaulK wrote:

Your test with a new AB was a good idea.

Yes, and just to clarify – right now, it seems I can add, change or delete from the new Address book and now the Personal it seems, but the Collected Addresses always reverts to what was there no matter what I do to the addresses within it.

PaulK wrote:

4 – Create a new Profile; it needn’t be fully configured at this point. Tools > Import – and bring in the AB(s) that were Exported in 3. Can you then do Editing successfully?

I’ll need a refresher on creating a new Profile – I have a few Mozilla docs that show how to. Will that profile be able to be deleted if it doesn’t help with the issue?

Or, given the small number of addresses is it maybe a mountain out of a molehill and not something that I should even worry about??

PaulK wrote:

I am contentedly running on 60.x.x, from three years ago. Am I lacking some security enhancements? Likely. Am I nagged to upgrade? No.

To add to the issue OscarCP brought up – I also am very happy with version 68 and have no thoughts to change at this point. Same feelings I have with FF 88 – I like them both the way they are and am avoiding any updates.

I’ll await further thoughts and read up on creating the profile – or the “grafting or surgery” if this one seems to be salvageable.

Thanks!

 

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I have half the problem of LHiggings, a half that never has been solved: I cannot remove cards from Address books, but I can add new ones. A nuisance, yes, not fatal.

It is just one more of the numerous Tunderbird deficiencies, but one I have learned to live with. I’ll be OK even so, I think.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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LHiggins

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Same question: 2 – Only one AB, or across several? Personal, Collected, or one(s) that you defined?

Edit add – Also, do you recall if there has been only one version of Thunderbird used with this Profile, or has TB been up-versioned since the profile was created?

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PaulK: “Personal”, “Mac Os X” (?) and “Collected” only. No AB deleted, ever. None added.

I have not deleted or added, because I prefer not to fiddle with this beast’s inners, in case it wakes up and goes and does something really bad. As it very strongly tends to go and do.

Thanks.

Also now TB is insistently asking me to update it from 78.14.0 to 91.3.0. Because I am in the middle of the process of changing jobs and absolutely need to have online email access, I am resolutely stopping it from getting updated. Hence my obvious question: What is really bad, this time, about 91.3.0? Because there is always something, with TB.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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“What is really bad, this time, about 91.3.0?”
– I have no knowledge that anything is bad. I don’t understand the question.
– The index to all Thunderbird “Release Notes” is
— https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/releases/ .
– Each set of Notes lists: what is new, functional changes, and fixes.

I am contentedly running on 60.x.x, from three years ago. Am I lacking some security enhancements? Likely. Am I nagged to upgrade? No. Somewhere since then, Mozilla removed the option to “Never check for updates (Not recommended …”).

Do you perhaps recall which version of Thunderbird you first installed?

(About?) how many Contacts are there in each of the three Address Books? The count is at the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Suggestion — in Address Book: File > New > Address Book. Give it a name.
Manually add in a few contacts. Can you manipulate them: Edit, and Delete?

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Paul K, My first TB version was in the high 60’s, so “60 something). I am now in the high 70’s and still get those “install the new version” messages.

What do I mean by asking what may be bad with TB’s latest version? Precisely that, because there is always something bad with TB, but all the bad things are not necessarily the same in successive versions.

Also I appreciate and take to heart your examples (yours and Wavy’s) of sticking with an earlier, even antique version of TB, examples I’ll do my best to faithfully follow in the future.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Just a note: If you want to be safe re an “upgrade” to TB save a copy of your profile first. It is problematic if not impossible to regress with an ‘upgraded’ profile. It can be ‘forced’ via an optional commandline parameter but is unwise.
IMHO each new version since 60 something is a down grade ,a Mozilla theme apparently.
I am happily on 60.9.1, I may explore 68 but nothing later.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

2 users thanked author for this post.

LHiggins, OscarCP

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Continuing from 2401341 above –

1 – No. Thunderbird (and Firefox) Profiles are independent of each other. The index to them is in (example) C:UsersPaulAppDataRoamingThunderbirdprofiles.ini .

2 – “All Address Books” is the composite of everything. Note that the ‘real’ ABs are indented under this heading. I have many ABs, and in order to identify just which AB a particular Contact is in, I have selected Address Book (the bottom item) in the pull-down at the right end of the heading line.

4 – New Profile. One way is:
On the Desktop, COPY the shortcut, and PASTE it onto the Desktop.
Right-click > Properties
(tab) General: Change the name to [ Mozilla Thunderbird (Profile Manager) ]
(tab) Shortcut: at the right end of the Target window, add:
a space, then -P. Like this: […nderbird.exe” -P]
OK/Apply
The [-P] forces TB to Open with the Profile Manager, to give one an opportunity to select which Profile one wants to use. Or, to Create/Rename/Delete.
I recommend that one DO check ‘Work offline’ (at first), and NOT check ‘Use … selected’.

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OscarCP

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Sorry for the delay getting back here. OK – will address comments from PaulK above, though not sure they are directed a me.

PaulK wrote:

1 – No. Thunderbird (and Firefox) Profiles are independent of each other. The index to them is in (example) C:UsersPaulAppDataRoamingThunderbirdprofiles.ini

I don’t believe I was asking about comparing TB and FF other than to say that I don’t want to upgrade either as I like FF V88 and TB V68, except for this Address Book issues.

I did wonder if the TB profiles for other users on this laptop may have something to do with this issue.

PaulK wrote:

4 – New Profile. One way is: On the Desktop, COPY the shortcut, and PASTE it onto the Desktop. Right-click > Properties (tab) General: Change the name to [ Mozilla Thunderbird (Profile Manager) ] (tab) Shortcut: at the right end of the Target window, add: a space, then -P. Like this: […nderbird.exe” -P] OK/Apply The [-P] forces TB to Open with the Profile Manager, to give one an opportunity to select which Profile one wants to use. Or, to Create/Rename/Delete. I recommend that one DO check ‘Work offline’ (at first), and NOT check ‘Use … selected’.

Thanks for that. I haven’t tried to create a new profile – as I had said, perhaps this issue is reallu not something that warrants that, since there aren’t many addresses involved, and it seems now the only AB that is affected is Collected Addresses. Those I save, move or edit in the New Address book seem to keep their properties and can be edited – at least so far.

Thanks for the help – hopefully this will all be manageable until I hopefully find a way to repair my WLM program which crashed and stopped working – but if not, TB seems to be a good option at least for the time being.

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I see how the insertion about Firefox muddied the statement. Sorry.
Restated grammatically:
“Thunderbird Profiles are independent of each other.
(The same is true within Firefox and its Profiles.)”

Each Profile is independent of every other Profile.
With some special definitions it is possible to ‘cross-use’ a Profile with multiple Windows users. But it is not a good idea to have that same Profile simultaneously Open with multiple users. Same Profile, accessible by multiple users, but only one of them at a time actually using that Profile.

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LHiggins

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Thanks Paul! Makes sense and I can say that I am only using one profile with TB and there has only ever been this one profile with this user.

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