What is MAB File Format & Locate Mozilla Address Book MAB
What is MAB File Format
All the email clients retain an Address Book to preserve a record of all the contacts. Out of which, one such email application is Thunderbird that stores its address book data as MAB File Format (Mozilla Address Book) within the database. Therefore, it can be said that .mab files are the data files that saves information of address book of email applications. However, whenever the contacts are opened from any email client, they are retrieved from the .mab file. This article helps users to learn what is MAB File Format, Types of MAB File Extension: abook.mab, history.mab, impab.mab & How to Open .mab File.
Except for Thunderbird, there are some other email applications that include SeaMonkey, older Netscape, etc. save the address books as MAB extension. There are some specifications of the .mab file can as mentioned below:
| File Extension | .mab File |
|---|---|
| Full Form | Mozilla Address Book |
| File Type | Personal Address Book or Collected Address |
| MIME Type | Application/octet-stream |
| File Category | Data File |
| Supported Applications | Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Netscape, Libre Office |
| Database | Mork |
Therefore, MAB extension is a part of Mork database, which covers complete record of address books that is associated with all the configured profiles.
Types of .mab File : abook.mab, history.mab,impab.mab
MAB file extension can be broadly categorized into the following three file types:
1. abook.mab: It is a default folder for storing contacts of Personal Address Book. Therefore, whenever a user stores their contacts in the Personal address book, all the contact gets added to abook.mab file. If the abook.mab file is exported then, one can easily open abook.mab contacts from Personal Address Book.
2. history.mab: As Thunderbird and other mail applications retain a record of contacts automatically to ease faster access as well as management of data. All these collected addresses are saved in history.mab file. It encloses information about all the contacts, which have been collected by mail application.
3. impab.mab: If a user has imported Address book to maintain the embedded contacts, all the contacts get stored into impab.mab file. Therefore, while opening impab.mab file, a user can get whole records of imported contacts into Mozilla Address Book File.
Location of MAB File Format Mozilla Address Book File
Sometimes, users need to know what is MAB File & browse the actual location of MAB of their Thunderbird profile on their machine, it can be located at:
- For Windows Users
“C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles”
- For Mac Users
“~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles//”
However, SeaMonkey users can also find the location of .mab file in SeaMonkey profile at:
- For Windows Users
“C:\Users\<Windows login user name>>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Profiles\********.<Profile Name> - For Mac Users
“~/Library/Application Support/SeaMonkey/Profiles/********.<Profile name>
How to Open MAB File Format
Once the user gets to know what is MAB file & or finds the location of .mab file, the first thing, which comes in mind of almost all the users, is to read Mozilla Address Book MAB file format. Therefore, whenever they open a file by simply clicking it, they are not allowed to open .mab file. An error is generated, which indicates, “Windows cannot recognize MAB file, thus Windows cannot open MAB file.” Therefore, this repeated issue for opening MAB file creates an issue for users then, they start looking for a way to view MAB file.
Another possible MAB alternative is to open this file in LibreOffice that provides an access to open and view MAB file within its interface. Therefore, to open and view MAB file format, follow the mentioned steps:
1. Open an application LibreOffice on your machine.
2. Click on File option and click on Wizards.
3. From the listed options, choose Address Data Book Source.
4. Select an option of other external data source.
5. Choose the desired type of file to be opened.
Limitation: It can only be performed after installing the driver for opening MAB file. It is impossible to open and view .mab file without installing a driver for it. Therefore, the complete procedure becomes quite complex in handling it.
Effortless Way to Open MAB File Format
To overcome the limitation of above method, one can open and read address book details from .mab file, users can utilize free MAB Viewer. It gives a quick solution to open and view all kinds of Mozilla Address Book (MAB) files in an effortless manner.
Conclusion
MAB file format plays a significant role for each mail client users. One can easily export contacts from .mab file into another email application to utilize existing contacts. Therefore, all these Mozilla Address book files are essential to be carefully opened so that none of the information can be manipulated while utilizing. This article has been compiled with a motive to learn to about what is Mab File Extension, its types & open them with ease for users.