You have a problem with your browser immediately opening the link and stealing focus away from Thunderbird. This is not a Thunderbird issue. Thunderbird sends the info to open a link in your browser of choice. This means Thunderbird has done it's job. How the browser reacts is down to the settings in the browser - not in Thunderbird. If browser has settings to open all links in tabs and to direct immediate focus to the newly opened link in tab then that is what will happen. You need to alter the settings in your browser. If you are using Firefox: * Open a new tab. * In top address bar type: '''about:config''' * accept the friendly warning * In top search type: '''diverted''' * look for : '''browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground''' * It will have a setting of 'false' * Click on the far right icon to toggle the value to 'True' Next time you click on a link in Thunderbird, the browser should behave as desired and you should still have focus in Thunderbird. Happy days :)