[HOWTO] Import AddressBook to ThunderBird

[CaribbeanOS-X]

HOW TO import AddressBook into ThunderBird, the best options I have found so far are the following:

(1) Eudora has a built-in feature that allows reading the Mac Address Book. When I imported my Eudora mail, the Address Book was imported in its entirety. So, if you use Eudora, you can import your Address Book that way.

(2) A simple way (for advanced users) to import your Address Book is by using the vCard to LDIF converter found at this site:
http://labs.brotherli.ch/vcfconvert/
It works beautifully, but if your contacts have more than 2 email addresses, it's likely you won't get the extra addresses. Again, this is by far the best I've found. (you can download the script and run it locally, for those paranoid people.)

Both of the options above, of course, do not integrate with updates in your Address Book. If you constantly update your Address Book, you'll have to update it in TBird, too.

(3) The one solution I've found that integrates the Mac's Address Book with TB is by creating a free account with Plaxo (www.plaxo.com). It has an extension for TB that keeps your addresses synchronized.

(4) The final cut & paste method from MAIL.app

1. in Thunderbird, at Preferences>Composition>Addressing, select "Automatically add outgoing e-mail..."
2. in Apple Mail, click on the 'New' (message) button
3. at the top of the 'New Message' form, click the 'Address' button
4. in the 'Addresses' window, SELECT all addresses
5. DRAG the addresses to the 'To' field (of the new Apple Mail message)
6. be sure that the 'To' field is the active field by clicking once on any name/email address
7. SELECT ALL and COPY
8. in Thunderbird, open a new message (click the 'Write' button)
9. PASTE into the To field
10. send

Hint:
To accomplish the import without actually sending the message, simply disconnect (unplug) from the internet before clicking on "Send".

Hope this helps.

CaribbeanOS-X