Changing Mailbird's data/storage directory is not supported from within Mailbird. The steps below are an advanced Windows workaround, and our Customer Happiness Team cannot provide technical support if something goes wrong.

Only follow these steps if you are comfortable moving folders in Windows and creating symbolic links or junction links. We also recommend backing up your Mailbird data before you begin.

⚠️ Before you start

• Make sure Mailbird is not set to run automatically when Windows starts.
• Restart your PC before moving the folder, so Mailbird is fully closed.
• Choose the new storage location you want to use for Mailbird's data.
• Remember that each Windows user has a separate Mailbird data directory. If Mailbird is used on multiple Windows user accounts, repeat the process separately for each account.

📁 Find your current Mailbird data directory

1. Open Mailbird.
2. Hold Ctrl + Shift, then click the main menu icon in the top-left corner of Mailbird.
3. A hidden option called Open Data Directory will appear.
4. Click Open Data Directory. Windows will open the folder where Mailbird currently stores its data.

Keep this folder window open so you can confirm the original location before moving anything.

🔁 Move the folder and create a link

1. Close Mailbird completely.
2. Move the entire Mailbird data folder from its original location to the new location you want to use.
3. Create a directory symbolic link from the original location to the new location.

For example, if your Windows user name is John Doe and you moved the data directory to C:MailbirdData, you would use this command:

mklink /D "C:UsersJohn DoeAppDataLocalMailbird" "C:MailbirdData"

The quotation marks are important, especially if either folder path contains spaces.

For more detailed information about symbolic links in Windows, see this guide: Complete Guide to Symbolic Links on Windows.

🧰 If mklink does not work

If Windows does not let you create the symbolic link with mklink, you can try creating a junction link instead. As far as Mailbird is concerned, this should work in a similar way.

• Try Microsoft's Junction tool: Junction - Sysinternals
• You can also try a Windows Explorer extension such as Link Shell Extension: Link Shell Extension

✅ Check that everything worked

1. Open the original Mailbird data directory path in Windows.
2. If the link was created correctly, Windows should take you to the new storage location instead.
3. Open Mailbird and confirm that your accounts and data load as expected.

If Mailbird does not open correctly after the change, move the data folder back to its original location and remove the symbolic link or junction link.

If you still need help with Mailbird, you can contact our Customer Happiness Team here. Please note that we cannot troubleshoot custom Windows symbolic-link or junction-link setups.