Thunderbird Community Forum

Taskbar icon does not indicate when new mail has arrived. Does not show a count of new/unread messages. 128.3.2 Windows 11

In settings "incoming mail" icon options I have chosen "show count of new emails" and "show a tray icon for unread messages is checked".

I am unable to tell at a glance if new email has arrived. I see from researching the KB I'm not the only to have this issue, but none of the settings seem to help.

Transfer Thunderbird email and data to another computer. I have attempted to transfer my email data from / to Windows 10 computers. The instructions seem straightforward but so far I have not been able to bring up the "new" computer after copying / transferring the data. I have a Linux laptop I could transfer to, but the versions don't match and I'm not sure it would work anyway. Any help or direction to instructions (I thought I have looked everywhere) would be great. Thanks

Hello, I have enabled the Thunderbird dark mode. My expectation was that all messages in the message list are displayed in white on a dark background.

Unfortunately, the message list often uses a black font on a dark background.

I changed the color in the message pane using settings --> Colour

I followed the instructions/workarounds here for using dark theme, including reset and troubleshoot mode. https://support.mozilla.org/sv/questions/1439922

But it did not help. Maybe you guys can help.

Regards George

Hi,

I have just started using Thunderbird and I'm trying to change the default colour for a hyperlink.

I have tried about:config -> browser.anchor_color and browser.active_color but neither has worked.

I also tried using a user.js file but that didn't work either.

I would have thought this would be a fairly basic thing but it seems to be impossible.

I have a new Brother printer MFC-L3780CDW. I can print from Foxfire internet, I can print from Microsoft Word. I can go to my Comcast online account and print emails, but I cannot print an email from Thunderbird from my desk top. I right click the email to bring up the menu. I select print and nothing happens. It dont bring up a print preview window to select printer. It does nothing. My old printer was also a Brother MFC, just an older model. everything worked fine. I called brother and they say since everything else prints it must be a problem in the Thunderbird Application

Using Tbird 78.14.0 (64 bit) with Windows 10. I can no longer access the Page Setup screen properly. I suspect it's because I accidentally put a very big value in for the top margin. The print preview for even a short email says it's many pages, there's no text visible on any of those pages, the only part of the Page Setup screen visible is OK and Cancel at the bottom, and I can't get to the top of the screen. I've tried closing and re-opening Tbird to no avail. How can I get to the top of the Page Setup screen to fix the problem?

Hi, I'm using Thunderbird version 140.0 on Windows 10 and trying to change the background of the message pane. I've tried:

1. messagepanebox {

   background-color: #e6f3ff !important; 

}

but it only changes the upper part and I can't find a way to target the whole flex container or the lower part. There is a forum response (titled Message preview pane background) that targets the message pane:

1. messagePane {

background-image: url("file:///C:/path to image/image.jpg") !important;}

and that fills the message pane when its blank at startup but it disappears when selecting a message from the list.

I can add the background-color statement to :root in Developer Tools and that only works for the current selected message. How can I change the background of the entire Message Pane - the upper and lower part that contains the contents of the message - for each message that is selected? Thanks, David

I recently upgraded to Thunderbird 128.2.3esr, and I no longer have the zebra stripes that alternate between my messages.

The userChrome.css file that appears in my profile's chrome folder is:

/* Light green, high-contrast zebra stripes in message list */

1. threadTree treechildren::-moz-tree-row(odd) {

-moz-appearance: none !important; background-image: none !important; /* background-color:#99E02E !important;} */

  background-color:#EEFFBB !important;} 

/* background-color:#AED6F1 !important;} */

1. threadTree treechildren::-moz-tree-row(selected) {

background-color:#45A1FF !important;}

Is there a reason that this no longer works? Can it be modified to restore the zebra stripes? Or is there an alternative code that will restore functionality?

Thanks in advance!

When I receive some special html formatted email e.g. from ticket system like Zendesk they look like this: https://assets-prod.sumo.prod.webservices.mozgcp.net/media/uploads/images/2025-06-17-01-06-32-c4ca42.png

When I want to reply to the text stays at the blue colored background and the text would be hard to read and it looks ugly: https://assets-prod.sumo.prod.webservices.mozgcp.net/media/uploads/images/2025-06-17-01-06-37-c81e72.png

Unfortunately I can't change background color to blank or white in Tunderbird 139.0.2. In menu of reply window "Page colors and Background", "Use custom colors", "Background" I can set to #ffffff of course, click apply and ok, but that doesn't change it: https://assets-prod.sumo.prod.webservices.mozgcp.net/media/uploads/images/2025-06-17-01-06-42-eccbc8.png

I suppose it relies to the html formatting of the received email because on starting to write a complete new email it works. But that's very annoying that Thunderbird doesn't manage to change background colors on already formatted html body. Is this a bug or only poor source code and the programmer didn't have much motivation to write and robust code which could gather all html emails?

Could you check with this test email to test and reproduce? https://limewire.com/d/pqbEk#1idjNje6b2

Thanks a lot! I'd be very happy about your help.

Version 128.11.esr I see no way to move the menu back to the top which is where Windows OS/2 Linux and many other OS put it There are links saying going to setting and use Search Type Legacy but I cannot see any option like that in the latest settings.

As Someone who has an award for 508 Compliance, that is the US Federal requirement for accessibility to software. You should always keep it simple. The menu should always be at the top because that is what people use to decide to do.

The younger generation think a search bar is the starting point for finding things. You do not remember the desktop environment I grew up and still live in successfully today.

The main advantage if living on a desktop today is that is free of charge and I do not need to revise my hardware every 10 years let alone every couple of years because it still works and it is secure.

I have arranged my life so I do not have to move to dramatically reduce my carbon foot print. If you accept that environment desktops rule OK.

Also only having emails or events or tasks planning or finance on the screen gives you way more room to read things. I use two monitors because I have a lot to read. I choose what I want from a menu.

I use a search bar once I am on the right window

There should at least be an option to have the menu at the top.

It is the sort of decision that could loose you customers because it makes your product harder to use for those of us who grew up in a desktop environment not on a Web Page. And people who have to work in the US Federal Government.

In my web browser I always have the menu visible and at the top. Then the tabs then the URI editor The search bar is the third line down not at the top. Followed by the bookmarks toolbar then the web page.

Having the same format in every product would makes your products consistent and easier to transition between.

In the latest version of Thunderbird things have moved around for what to me seems zero benefit.

I would repeat an old maxim that has made me one of the more efficient programmers. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I am efficient because I spend most of my working out what not to change because it works. So actual hardly do anything.

One reason banks liked OS/2, was because it never needed rebooting. One bank had an OS/2 server running continuously for 10 years. When it eventually did break they had trouble finding it because no one had touched it for 10 years.

Enough ranting, thank you for what is otherwise a great product. Just be open to the fact that some of your customers would be happier if you just applied security updates and left the UI exactly the same as it was for the rest of time.

Having written utilities for Citrix Systems Inc. that ran exactly the same business logic running on 8 OS. It would be nice to have the same level of consistency in Thunderbird.

The issue with that goal is you structured your menus differently on Linux than Windows, so making things completely consistent would cause some unavoidable movement of items in the menu.

A delete button is not available for the 'read message' pane. In the older versions of TB around v60, I could have the same toolbar in the inbox and all the panes. Is there a way to resolve this annoyance. I had the upgrade to a later version because MS changed the security settings from 'Normal Password' to 'OAuth2' which apparently does not work with TB v60. Thanks for any help. I have been using TB for many years. btw, I also miss having the 'Account Colors' extension which is not available (or compatible) with the later TB versions.

New computer Ubuntu 24.04 Mate, older Ubuntu 22.04 Cinnamon. Following support transfer directions (open Thunderbird on new PC, close it, paste a copy of older .thunderbird from USB stick to .thunderbird on new, over write), when I open Thunderbird no accounts are shown only the create account screen. I find no update path for older Thunderbird. New PC came with 128 esr but I found a tarball of 115 .18.0, installed it and followed transfer directions with the same results. Seems like the esr version uses a profile ending with esr and ignores my older one. What are my options for transferring 20 years of significant messages? The hard way might be to identify the account specific files in my older profile and copy them into the new esr profile...

i made a donation last week to thunderbird , but the inbox folder is blocked asking for a donation and not letting me open the emails attached i show the page that appears on the inbox

Copied Thunderbird Profile on old computer to external HDD. Name assigned was zs6…. Installed TBird on new Win10 PC, omitting sign-in procedure. On this PC, clicked Menu, Help, Troubleshooting Info. Opened Profile folder on this PC, left-clicked Roaming, closed TBird. Copied zs6… from ext HDD, pasted onto TBird folder C:\users\owner\appdata\roaming on new PC. Clicked Yes to replace any existing files. Opened \roaming\thunderbird\profiles zs6…. not in there. TBird launches again in Setup. What am I doing wrong?

Have just installed TB for the first time (replacing WLM) and am very happy with it. My only problem is that the option to open with a blank page is not working despite leaving the checkbox unchecked. I've tried checking and unchecking but it makes no difference, it always opens with the full setup options displayed. Is there another way to have TB open with a blank page?

I've moved thunderbird between windows 10 computers several times without any issues in the past, but I'm having problems now.

My old PC is running windows 10 with the most up to date TB. New machine has windows 11.

In the past, it was just a case of installing TB on the new machine and replacing the profile folder there with the one from the old machine.

Now when I do this I get "your thunderbird profile could not be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible"

Ay help with this woould be much appreciated

Thunderbird puts a LOT of my mail into Junk/Spam boxes and I am missing some important stuff. Rather than go hunting for stuff I missed in other mailboxes, I'd rather deal with them as they come in. I've checked online and turned off everything I can find to prevent the Junk filters from working, but stuff is still showing up in Junk/Spam filters. What do I need to do to turn it ALL OFF? Thank you.

What are these new columns which suddenly appeared? From (CB), Recipient (CB), and Correspondents (CB)

I've never used them and can't imagine allowing them to clog my message headings so I uncheck them when I find them.