Download Hotmail Emails to Thunderbird with Ultimate Methods
“Help! I have been using Hotmail account since 2016. Due to some professional reasons, I have to use Mozilla Thunderbird application for mail communication. But, I need all my old emails from Hotmail account to Thunderbird before deleting the account. Is there any method that can download Hotmail emails to Thunderbird account?”
Are you facing the same situation and looking for a solution for same? Go through this article once and find out the subtle ways to download all Hotmail emails from Outlook.com account to Thunderbird in bulk without any fail.
So, Is There A Direct Way to Download Hotmail Email to Thunderbird?
Actually, there is no direct option available in Hotmail account that can download all Outlook.com emails to T-bird application straight. So, users need to go with some indirect method for the same task. Luckily! There are multiple workarounds out there that can be used to export all Hotmail emails to Thunderbird. We will show you how to copy Outlook.com messages to T-Bird email application.
Techniques to Download Outlook.com Emails to Thunderbird
Basically, there are two ways through which you can accomplish this task. Both the workarounds are illustrated in this section. So, let’s begin!
Method #1: Sync Outlook.com Account with Mozilla Thunderbird
Here, we are going to configure Hotmail account in the desired application and migrate the emails to T-Bird folder using Drag and Drop technique. For this, follow the below guide.
- Open the Mozilla Thunderbird on Windows system.
- After that, go to the Tools tab and opt for Account Settings as shown in the screenshot.

- From Account Settings window, you need to click on Account Actions button. Afterwards, choose Add Mail Account option.

- A Set Up an Existing Email Account window pops-up on the Thunderbird interface. Here, you need to provide the following details in order to move Hotmail emails to Thunderbird application.
- Your name: A per your ease, enter any relevant name
- Email address: Type the Hotmail/ Outlook.com email ID
- Password: Enter the password associated with Hotmail account.
- Once you are done with this, click on Continue & move ahead to download Hotmail emails to Thunderbird.

- On the following window, you can opt for either IMAP or POP3 method and click on Done.

- It will validate the account and redirect to Account Settings window. Here, click on Cancel.
- Now, check the left side panel. You can clearly see the Hotmail account setup in the Thunderbird.

- Now, you can simply drag the emails from configured account and drop them to Thunderbird folder.

Method #2: Automated Hotmail Backup Tool – Instantly Download All Hotmail Emails
In case, when the user has a bulk amount of emails, then the above method becomes cumbersome. In fact, sometimes Thunderbird freezes during synchronisation process. So, it is not beneficial to opt account configuration method to migrate huge data.
In such situation, the user must try Hotmail Backup Tool. It can download bulk emails from Outlook.com account to Thunderbird readable file format i.e., MBOX in the least time. After that, user can easily transfer this file to Thunderbird account with the help of Thunderbird Import Wizard.
Apart from this, the tool can also take the backup of Live.com and MSN.com domain account. One of the favorite features is multiple file-formats to download Hotmail emails. Besides the MBOX file, one can export emails in PST, EML, PDF, and MSG file types without any change in meta-data attributes. All in all, there is a feature named Delete After Download whose function is to remove all the messages from the server after backing up on the local system.
Find the trial version of the software for free here:
To exclusively download a particular range of emails, there is an option in the tool known as Date Filter. Let’s check out how to download all Hotmail emails to Thunderbird supported file format with the tool.
Step 1: Install the software and login with Outlook.com credentials.

Step 2: Opt. MBOX format to download Hotmail emails to Thunderbird file.

Step 3: Browse a location to save Thunderbird MBOX file.

Step 4: Click on Start to download Hotmail emails to Thunderbird file.

After getting the MBOX file, take the help of Thunderbird Import wizard and smoothly move Hotmail emails to Thunderbird profile.
Final Words!
It is very common that users are switching from one email client to another for better mail experience. But for now, in this article, we approach migration from Outlook.com account to Thunderbird. Here, we have discussed two workarounds on how to download Hotmail emails to Thunderbird without any loss. Choose any method for email migration as per your convenience.
Common User Queries
Save a Hotmail (Outlook.com) Message as PDF File
Step 1: Log in to the Hotmail account and open an email.
Step 2: Click on Three dots (…) and choose the Print option.
Step 3: Again, click on the Print option. Then, choose Save as PDF from the Destination section.
Step 4: Click on Save option. Browse a location to download Hotmail email as PDF.
Step 1: Download and Run Hotmail Backup Tool and login with Hotmail account.
Step 2: Select EML file to save Hotmail email.
Step 3: Browse a location to save Hotmail email as EML file.
Step 4: Click on Start to save Hotmail emails in EML format.