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Thunderbird only opens minimised - have to shift start every time.

  • 9 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by --Sally--

A few months back Thunderbird started only opening minimised when double clicked - I have to shift click to start in safe mode to get it to open. I've tried re-installing the latest version, and each time new shortcut icon on the desktop works once - then I have to revert to safe mode. Even when I select the disable add ons and reset toolbars - it still will only open minimised. Double clicking the thunderbird.exe file itself still opens minimised - can't think what elese to try - I've just been putting up with it. All help appreciated.

A few months back Thunderbird started only opening minimised when double clicked - I have to shift click to start in safe mode to get it to open. I've tried re-installing the latest version, and each time new shortcut icon on the desktop works once - then I have to revert to safe mode. Even when I select the disable add ons and reset toolbars - it still will only open minimised. Double clicking the thunderbird.exe file itself still opens minimised - can't think what elese to try - I've just been putting up with it. All help appreciated.

Chosen solution

Please add the troubleshooting information to your post, perhaps that will shed some light To find the Troubleshooting information:

  • Open Help (or click on three-line-icon and select Help)
  • Choose Troubleshooting Information
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  • Paste this in your post.
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All Replies (9)

As shift starts Thunderbird with add-ons disabled, I suggest you disable all addons and make the change permanent when you start up.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Matt - but I've already tried it - to no avail. Kindest, Sally

Do you start from a shortcut on your desktop? if so right click it. and select properties. In the shortcut tab Is the Run statement set to Normal window?

Hello Matt - yes I've looked at that - I've tried maximise and put it back to normal again. I think ~I might just have to put up with shift opening - I suppose it's not the end of the world! Thanks for you time, Sally

about the only other thing affected by safe mode is graphics acceleration On the toolbar > options> advanced > general and change the hardware acceleration setting. if it is on turn it off.

I've just had a look - it was already off - so I tried switching it on just to see if it would make a difference - but alas no (so I've turned it back off again). Thank you, Sally

Chosen Solution

Please add the troubleshooting information to your post, perhaps that will shed some light To find the Troubleshooting information:

  • Open Help (or click on three-line-icon and select Help)
  • Choose Troubleshooting Information
  • Use the button Copy to clipboard to select all. Do not check box "Include account names"!
  • Paste this in your post.

It all looks like gobbledegook to me!:

 Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 38.4.0
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.4.0
   Profile Folder: Show Folder
             (Local drive)
   Application Build ID: 20151119061742
   Enabled Plugins: about:plugins
   Build Configuration: about:buildconfig
   Memory Use: about:memory
 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext
   account12:
     INCOMING: account12, , (pop3) mail.lly.co.uk:110, plain, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: mail.lly.co.uk:25, plain, passwordCleartext, true
   account13:
     INCOMING: account13, , (pop3) mail.sallyswebsite.com:110, plain, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: mail.sallyswebsite.com:587, plain, passwordEncrypted, true
   account15:
     INCOMING: account15, , (pop3) mail.lly.uk:110, plain, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: mail.lly.uk:587, plain, passwordEncrypted, true
 Crash Reports
   http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/bp-0bd4925f-3d12-4137-ad69-bdd9a2130722 (22/07/2013)
 Extensions
 Important Modified Preferences
   Name: Value
     browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
     browser.zoom.full: true
     extensions.lastAppVersion: 38.4.0
     font.internaluseonly.changed: false
     font.name.monospace.el: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.tr: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-baltic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-central-euro: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas
     font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.tr: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-baltic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-central-euro: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Calibri
     font.name.serif.el: Cambria
     font.name.serif.tr: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-baltic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-central-euro: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria
     font.size.fixed.el: 14
     font.size.fixed.tr: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-baltic: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-central-euro: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-cyrillic: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-unicode: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-western: 14
     font.size.variable.el: 17
     font.size.variable.tr: 17
     font.size.variable.x-baltic: 17
     font.size.variable.x-central-euro: 17
     font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17
     font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17
     font.size.variable.x-western: 20
     gfx.direct2d.disabled: false
     gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0
     layers.acceleration.disabled: false
     mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1
     mail.winsearch.enable: true
     mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true
     mail.winsearch.global_reindex_time: 1263051578
     mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 2f1869ef-2f19-4c91-8c38-1d81d9840e7
     mailnews.database.global.views.conversation.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false…
     network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
     network.predictor.cleaned-up: true
     places.database.lastMaintenance: 1449516780
     places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858
     places.history.expiration.transient_optimal_database_size: 167772160
     plugin.importedState: true
     plugin.state.flash: 0
     print.printer_Brother_DCP-9020CDW_Printer.print_scaling: 0.60
     print.printer_Brother_DCP-9020CDW_Printer.print_shrink_to_fit: false
 Graphics
     Adapter Description: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
     Vendor ID: 0x1002
     Device ID: 0x68be
     Adapter RAM: 1024
     Adapter Drivers: aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx64 aticfx32 aticfx32 aticfx32 atiumd64 atidxx64 atidxx64 atiumdag atidxx32 atidxx32 atiumdva atiumd6a atitmm64
     Driver Version: 8.850.0.0
     Driver Date: 4-19-2011
     Direct2D Enabled: false
     DirectWrite Enabled: false (6.2.9200.17461)
     ClearType Parameters: ClearType parameters not found
     WebGL Renderer: false
     GPU Accelerated Windows: 0
     AzureCanvasBackend: skia
     AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0
     AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo
     AzureContentBackend: cairo
 JavaScript
 Incremental GC: 1
 Accessibility
   Activated: 0
   Prevent Accessibility: 0
 Library Versions
     Expected minimum version
     Version in use
     NSPR
     4.10.10
     4.10.10
     NSS
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     NSS Util
     3.19.2.1
     3.19.2.1
     NSS SSL
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     NSS S/MIME
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC

Thunderbird has just updated to 38.05 and it seems to have fixed the problem - happy days! Thank you for trying to help Matt. Sally