Message Tags - Categorize your email in Thunderbird

Revision Information
  • Revision id: 135839
  • Created:
  • Creator: Chris Ilias
  • Comment: add selecting a tag to edit/delete it
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: Chris_Ilias
  • Is approved? Yes
  • Is current revision? No
  • Ready for localization: Yes
  • Readied for localization:
  • Readied for localization by: Chris_Ilias
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Message tags let you organize your email messages by categories. You can tag your work messages with one color and personal with another, so they are easy to distinguish. Even better, you can then use the Quick Filter bar to pick out the messages with a specific tag from the list.

TB message tags

Tag a message

  1. Select the message.
  2. Click the TB Tag button Tag ▾ button on the toolbar.
  3. Click the tag you want to add.

TB tag a message

Keyboard shortcut: See the numbers in the Tag menu? To quickly tag a message, press the respective number key. The message will be tagged with that tag.

Manage tags

If you want to add your own tags, rename the existing ones or simply change the colors, you can use the Settings window:

  1. Click the TB Tag button Tag ▾ button on the toolbar and select Manage tags... in the menu.
  2. Use the buttons to the right to manage your tags .
    TB tags options
    • Add a new tag: Click the Add button. In the dialog box, type a name for your new tag and select the color the messages will be highlighted with.
    • Change the name or color for a tag: Select the tag, then click the Edit button. In the dialog box, type a new name for your tag or choose the color you want.
    • Remove a tag from the list: Select the tag, then click the Delete button.

Filter messages by tags

Using the Quick Filter Toolbar, you can limit the display to the messages tagged with a specific tag.

  1. If the Quick Filter bar is hidden, click the Filter icon Quick Filter button in your toolbar to show it.
  2. In the Quick Filter bar, click the TB Tag button Tags button. The message list will be narrowed down to all messages that contain at least one tag.
  3. To limit the list to the messages with a specific tag, click that tag name in the toolbar.
    TB quick filter by tags