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How to locate your mailbox files

It is not always easy to find the location, where the mailbox files are stored on the computer. These files are normally not accessed directly (the way you do it when you open the file with Address Harvester); that’s why they are hidden deep into the file system of your harddisk. But with the following hints, you should be able to find the files on your computer and use them as data source for Address Harvester.

You can use the windows search feature to find the mailbox files, or you can follow these instructions. For both approaches, it is recommendable to configure the Windows explorer to show hidden files and folders (unfortunately, some mail application store their files in a folder marked as hidden, which makes it harder to gain access to the mailbox files).

To show hidden files, use in any explorer Window the “Tools” menu and click “Folder Options”. On the “View tab”, look for the entry “Hidden files and folders” and there, select the option “Show hidden files and folders”. After you have added your sources to the Address Harvester list, you can restore the original View setting in order to hide system files.

Outlook Express: This program stores mails in folders with the extension DBX: Each DBX file contains all the mails of the homonymous mail folder. Usually, the DBX files are located in the following folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Your user name]\Application Data\Identities\{...}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

[Your user name] is a Placeholder for your profile name, and the term in the accolades is an identification number for your Outlook Express Identity.

Another way to find out the location of the mailbox files is to use the command “Options” on the “Tools” menu. On the “Maintenance” tab, click “Store Folder” and select the “folder location”, and then press «Ctrl» + «C» to copy the location. Now, you can insert the path into the address field of the Windows Eplorer and switch to this directory by pressing «Return».

Outlook: Address Harvester does not access the data of this application directly, but uses the program to provide the information. You don’t need to find out the location of the Outlook data file, but you can access data from Outlook only on computers with this software installed.

Mozilla Thunderbird: The profile folder contains all configuration files of Mozilla Thunderbird and the mail folders in the MBox format. The mailboxes can be found in the profile folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\[Your user name]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\[ID].default\Mail\Local Folders

More information about the profile folder is provided by Mozilla.org in the article “Locate your profile folder”.

You can find out the location of the mail store by using the “Tools” menu and the “Settings” command: Select the account of your choice and open the “Server settings” category. You’ll find the directory in the field “Local directory”. You can copy it and use this information in the address field of the Windows Explorer.

Please notice: Mozilla Thunderbird (as well as Mozilla or Netscape) does not use a file extension for the mailbox files. The inbox directory for instance has the name “Inbox”. It is possible that the Thunderbird, Netscape and Mozilla mailboxes are only visible in the “Add address source” dialog of Address Harvester, when you select “All files” as file type!

Mozilla and Netscape: The information for Mozilla Thunderbird is applicable for Mozilla and Netscape as well, except that those applications use a slightly different mail folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\[Your user name]\Application Data\Mozilla\...

Eudora: This program uses the following directory for storing mails:

C:\Documents and Settings\[Your user name]\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora

Or (on older Windows operating systems):

C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora