Since Windows Live Mail 2012 no longer accepts Microsoft email accounts, you may be looking for an alternative. Mozilla Thunderbird is the most comprehensive e-mail client available today and therefore a logical choice. But even if you didn't use Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird is a valuable program to handle your e-mail. In short, enough reason to get acquainted with this beautiful freeware.
1 Installation
Thunderbird is available for multiple operating systems, namely Windows, OS X and Linux. Surf here to download the correct version and perform the installation. Leave the check mark for Using Thunderbird as my default email application. As a result, the program will now open automatically as soon as you click somewhere on an e-mail address. Feel free to opt for the standard installation. Through Next one and to install complete the installation. Then launch the freeware. Also read: How to add extra email accounts in Windows 10 Mail.
2 First time
When you open Thunderbird for the first time, a dialog box appears in which you set various things. Indicate whether you want your e-mails to be indexed by the Windows search function, so that you can also find your e-mails outside the program window. Choose Set as Default. In the next screen you will be given the opportunity to create a new email address. Through Skip this and use my existing email address enter your existing email address, for example a hotmail.com or outlook.com address. Don't forget to enter the correct password and confirm with Get on.
3 POP3 or IMAP?
Thunderbird accesses an online database to import your email account server information. You usually have a choice of retrieving messages via a POP3 or IMAP server. With POP3, Thunderbird imports all messages from the mail server and stores them locally on disk. When you access the mail server again with another device, the messages are gone. For that reason, it is best to choose IMAP. This protocol is able to synchronize different devices with the mail server, so that you can access the same e-mails everywhere.
4 Server Settings
Most email services and internet providers today support both POP3 and IMAP, such as Gmail, Ziggo, KPN, Outlook.com and Telfort. Unfortunately, Thunderbird does not automatically select the correct servers in all cases. For example, with e-mail addresses of internet providers it is sometimes necessary to enter the correct server addresses yourself. Choose Manual Configuration, after which you adjust the incoming and outgoing server as you see fit. If necessary, you can request the correct information from the internet provider. You can also adjust the port numbers if necessary. Pay attention to whether you want to collect digital mail via POP3 or IMAP and confirm with Ready.
5 Read email
If you have configured a new email account, all messages will appear in Thunderbird. Just click on Inbox. Unread messages are in bold. By default, all emails are in chronological order (oldest to newest). Would you rather show recent posts at the top. Then click at the top of the column Date to sort the messages from newest to oldest. Click a subject line to view the content in the lower pane. When you double click, the email will appear in a new tab. Thunderbird blocks images from external web locations for security reasons. If you trust the sender, then click Options / Show external content in this post.
6 Export email
Windows Live Mail stores emails locally. If you always used Live Mail as your mail program, then you would of course like to transfer all existing messages to Thunderbird to have everything together in one program. You arrange that by exporting the emails. In Windows Live Mail, go to File / Export Email / Email Messages. You select Microsoft Windows Live Mail and click Next one. Through To leaf through select a location on the hard drive. It is important that you choose an empty folder, so create one first if necessary. click on Next one and decide which folders you want to transfer. Of course you select in any case Inbox. Confirm with Next one and Complete.
How further?
Microsoft hasn't updated Windows Live Mail 2012 for a while now. Still, until recently, there were still a lot of people who enjoyed using this free email client. From June 30, it will no longer be possible to retrieve e-mails from hotmail, live, msn and outlook addresses with this program. Microsoft's webmail service Outlook.com recently started using new synchronization techniques, which means that the program can no longer import messages from the domains mentioned. It is also no longer possible to send e-mail. Switching to another email client is therefore an absolute necessity when using a Microsoft email address.
7 Import email
In step 6 you saved a load of eml files. You will now add it to Thunderbird. Open this email client and browse your system to the folder containing eml files. Press Ctrl+A to select all emails. Then drag the selection to your mailbox within Thunderbird and notice that the messages appear in the overview. Keep in mind that it takes a while before the program has read all the data.
8 Export Address Book
You can also easily transfer the Windows Live Mail address book to Thunderbird. In Microsoft's discarded email program, click Contacts at the bottom left. Then choose Export / File with comma separated values (.CSV). You select via To leaf through a place on the hard drive to save the data file, after which you click on Save / Next. Select the data you want to export, such as last name, email address and mobile number. Confirm with Complete. There is now a CSV file on your hard drive. You can open this file in Excel to check whether the contact details are actually present.
9 Import Address Book
In Thunderbird, click at the top directory and choose successively Tools / Import. In the wizard you then choose Address Books. As file type, select the Text file option (LDIF, .tab, .csv, .txt). In the next screen, point to the location where you saved the CSV file. To view the saved csv file, select from the drop-down menu behind File name the option Comma separated (*.csv). Through To open check if the address book data matches the Thunderbird fields. If necessary, use the buttons Move up and Move down to set all fields correctly. Finally click on OK and Complete.
10 Tags
Labels are so practical with a crowded mailbox. You can color important or business e-mails with this, so that you can quickly find them in the inbox. Select one or more messages. Click at the top Labels and make a choice. With the default settings you choose between Important, Work, Personal, To Do and Later on. Through New label create a new instance if you wish. Think of a suitable name and associate a color with the label. You can easily sort the inbox by the presence of labels via the quick filter options at the top of the Inbox.
11 Search function
Thunderbird has a powerful search function to quickly locate desired e-mails. Not only the subject line is part of the search, because the freeware also checks the content of messages. Type a keyword in the search field at the top and press Enter. The search results appear in a new tab. Note that you can filter the results by person, label and folder using the left menu. Click on the chart logo at the top to see from which calendar years the messages come.
12 Calendar
Just as you may be used to from Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird also has its own agenda. In the right-hand pane, you can see which appointments are scheduled for today. Is there no agenda to see? Click on the bottom right Window Today to open this pane. Through new event you can easily write down a new appointment or activity. Fill in all the details, such as the date, time and location. It is useful to set a reminder, so that you do not forget the appointment. Through Invite invitees send an email with all agenda details to the relevant contacts. click on OK / Save and Close.
13 Offline Mode
In offline mode you can easily continue working while you are not connected to the internet for a while. Click the icon with the two monitors in the bottom left. A message will appear asking if you want to download messages before you go offline. That way all e-mails are still available. Choose Download now when you agree. Creating new emails is no problem at all without an active internet connection. Click in the menu bar on draw up and type the email. At the end you choose Send later. As soon as you are back online, Thunderbird immediately sends the emails that you created during the period that you were offline.
14 Message filters
If you like to keep order within your inbox, you can simply create message filters. E-mails that meet the specified criteria are automatically placed in a specific folder. Open the menu at the top right (button with three horizontal bars) and navigate to Message filters / Message filters. Through New create a filter. Think of a name for this and determine which rule(s) the message filter must comply with. below Perform these actions indicate in which folder you want to place the messages. Close the dialog with OK.
To chat
In addition to an email client, Thunderbird also has a chat client built in. Just click on the top menu bar chat. Of To start you decide which accounts you want to add. You can choose between Google Talk, IRC and Twitter, among others. With the latter web service, your complete timeline appears on the screen. Keep in mind that Thunderbird asks for a password. Choose an alias if desired and go through the remaining steps to integrate the chat client. Can't connect to your account? It usually helps to restart Thunderbird. In the case of Twitter, a separate pop-up screen will appear asking you to enter your password.
15 Addons
Thanks to the support of add-ons, you can easily add extra functions. Are you curious about the offer? Click on the menu button at the top right and choose Add-ons. As you may have noticed, there is already an extension active under the name Lightning. This extension is responsible for the agenda within Thunderbird. Go to the Get add-ons section and browse through the range. If you often encounter annoying advertisements in your mailbox, the add-on Adblock Plus interesting. It is also possible to install an alternative address book, digital notepad and countless small tricks. Open the corresponding page of an add-on and confirm with Add to Thunderbird / Install Now.
16 Themes
Like any email client, Thunderbird's interface looks a bit dull. You can do something about that by installing a colorful theme. In the menu go to Add-ons / Get Add-ons. At the bottom right you choose All full themes. The choice is huge! If desired, arrange the offer according to the best rated themes. Have you found a nice copy? Click on the name and check if the theme is also available for your Thunderbird version. In addition, carefully examine the images to see if you like the interface. Finally choose Add to Thunderbird / Install Now. Restart the program to activate the chosen theme.
