When you open a new Write message: there will be one 'From' field there will be one 'Subject' field In between those lines are the allocated TO fields, where the first line shows a TO followed by some blank TO line fields.

How many TO lines do you see available?

If the Message Pane has been raised so that only one TO field is visible then it will look like it's disappeared until you lower the Message Pane so that two clear fields are visible.

If you have Two clearly visible lines then it should invoke the scrollbar to show hidden TO fields after entering two email address and attempting to enter a third.

If you already have two or more TO fields and the scrollbar does not appear after entering more than two email addresses or you only entered one and it disappeared without showing the scroll bar:

Tools > Options > Advanced > General tab

click on 'Config Editor' button it will tell you to be careful :)

In top search type: numRows look for this line:

   mail.compose.addresswidget.numRowsShownDefault;  Value = 3 

double click on the line to open a small editing window. eg: If current default says 3 then enter 4 Type: 4 click on OK close config Editor Close Thunderbird Open Thunderbird and click on 'Write'

Cool to know the options through that config screen are available. Scary to know the kind of damage I could do there. But I digress...

I only see one TO line available.

SO, the fix did not work. I tried 4 lines, 2 lines, 1 line, 5 lines and 6 lines. No help. Ugh...

How about this. I've found that if I grab the horizontal line that separates the menu area below the 'Subject' field from the body of the email and if I drag it down just enough so I can see where the second 'To:' field would be visible if I were to have 2 'To:' recipients, then the first 'To:' field does not scroll up and disappear. (Am I being clear?)

Is there a way to adjust that (which I described above) in the 'Config Editor'? Or perhaps somewhere else just as dark and dangerous?

Thank you for your help!

In my setup: mail.compose.addresswidget.numRowsShownDefault; Value = 2

This means that when I launch the Write window, I see two TO fields. See first image below.

But after changing this prefernce in the Config Editor, you have to close and restart Thunderbird for it to take any effect. Otherwise it will not look like anything has changed.

If I then enter eg: three or more email addresses, then the scrollbar becomes visible to use or I can move the dividing line to reveal them.

Yes, you can manually move the dividing line to reveal more TO fields, but this is temporary; only for that Write message.

if you only have one line showing then the scroll bar does not work, so previously inputted fields will look like they have disappeared until you move the dividing bar downwards. The scroll bar should work if at least two TO fields display, but I have heard from one person that they needed at least three TO fields to make it work. See second image below.

First, really appreciate your help here. :-D

Your photos make total sense to me, but this is not what I'm experiencing on my end. I've taken some screen shots and will describe them below.

I did make sure that I closed Tbird each time I made the changes in Config Editor that I noted above.

Since your last reply, I have changed the mail.compose.addresswidget.numRowsShownDefault to 4.

I then closed Tbird. I also opened Task Manager and double checked that Windows wasn’t keeping Tbird or any other Mozilla programs open in the background somehow. When I didn’t see any, I went ahead and rebooted my system just to make sure.

AND…I still have the problem. Note in Picture1 the value set to 4 with the current write window behind it with only one TO field available. This screen shot was taken after my reboot.

Hopefully I've formatted showing these pix correctly...

Picture1: https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/media/uploads/images/2014-10-28-15-06-26-3086f9.png

So, here's how it looks for me as I try to address an email.

I start with this after I click Write. https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/media/uploads/images/2014-10-28-15-21-41-8ebbad.png

Then I start to type in an address book entry, which comes up as expected. When I see which email address I want, I hit tab (or enter, either responds the same way) https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/media/uploads/images/2014-10-28-15-23-11-f6cdbb.png

This is what I see after I hit tab. The email address disappears from the screen, but it is actually in the email. It has scrolled up as indicated by the now visible scroll bar. If I repeat the process above, the result is the same for each email I add. The email addresses disappear (scrolled up) and the view I now have is the picture below. https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/media/uploads/images/2014-10-28-15-38-04-41af3a.png

Then I hit tab, again, to move down to the SUBJECT field, and still, none of the email addresses I have added are visible. This view remains even if I tab into the body portion of the email window. Too strange! https://support.cdn.mozilla.net/media/uploads/images/2014-10-28-15-47-33-d13839.png

But if I do manually move the dividing line to reveal more TO fields, then the problem shown above does not exist. This is why I asked if there was a way to lock the dividing line lower on the window using Config Editor.

Thanks again for any input you can offer!

In your current situation you would need to use the scrollbar or move the dividing bar to see added email addresses.

I'm wondering if you have some addon extension or theme, which may be causing a conflict.

Please test this. In Thunderbird 'Help' > 'Restart with addons disabled'

then open a new Write window. Does it show the four lines that you have set here? mail.compose.addresswidget.numRowsShownDefault Value = 4

If yes, then one of you addons or themes is causing the problem. You would need to restart Thunderbird so that it starts up as normal and disable addons one at a time to find out which one is casusing the conflict.

Do you use the default theme?

Thanks heaps for all your help!

I followed your suggestion of running in safe mode (which solved my problem) then going back and using process of elimination to weed out the offending add-on.

The add-on causing the problem was 'Stationery 0.8.4' by Arivald (pic below). I do not remember installing it or ever using it, but, whatever...

Thrilled to be back to normal, again. Extremely thankful to you and the band of volunteers that run Mozilla. I've loved your products!

I had this problem and it was stationery that was the issue. I did as follows. Click on (TOOLS) then select (STATIONERY OPTIONS) Then select (OPTIONS) and go to bottom of page. (NUMBER OF ROWS IN ADDRESSING WIDGET) The box will have 2 in, so reset this to 2.5 and your problem should go away like mine did.

I had this problem and it was stationery that was the issue. I did as follows. Click on (TOOLS) then select (STATIONERY OPTIONS) Then select (OPTIONS) and go to bottom of page. (NUMBER OF ROWS IN ADDRESSING WIDGET) The box will have 2 in, so reset this to 2.5 and your problem should go away like mine did.