How do I keep messages "unread" until I have opened them?
When I downloaded Thunderbird all of my messages were marked "unread" until I opened the message to view it. Now, without me making any changes that I am aware of, my messages become read as son as I click on them without opening them. I really liked it before because I could tell which emails I had actually opened and read and which ones I had passed over to read later.
Thank you for your assistance, ED_On_TBIRD
Chosen solution
re :my messages become read as son as I click on them without opening them.
If you single left click on a message in the list AND have the 'Message Pane' enabled, then you are selecting to open that email and display it in the Message Pane. As you obviously also have selected the option to immediately mark as read upon opening, therefore the opened email is marked as read. This is normal and correctly functioning.
A single click on an email in the list is an instruction you are sending to open that email in the Message Pane and mark as read. A double click on email in list will open in either a window or tab depending upon your settings, and mark that email as read.
So, the question is this....what makes you believe that you have not opened that email? Can you read the contents of the selected email in the lower Message Pane? If yes, then you opened the email, so it should be marked as read.
Do you usually have the 'Message Pane' enabled? Most people tend to use the Message Pane as it is much quicker to read emails and uses less clicking so reducing RSD, but perhaps you were not using it before?
You can switch the Message Pane on and off as desired. There are a few ways of doing this, all correct, choose one which suits your setup. Via 'Menu Bar':
- 'View' > > 'Layout' > 'Message Pane'
Via 'Mail Toolbar':
- 'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Layout' > 'Message Pane'
Via keyboard:
- toggle the view using F8 key
Suggestions: Stop clicking on items which you do not want to issue an instruction on as this is not a healthy habit and potentially can result in you clicking on something you perhaps should not have done. The mouse, keyboard, mousepad etc are used by selecting and clicking. Each time you do this eg: left click... an instruction of some kind is being sent via keyboard to computer and the action will depend upon what you have clicked on. eg: If you click on a folder in the Folder pane, it will open that folder and display the contents. If you click on an email it will open and display in Message Pane (if enabled).
Option: Switch off viewing using the 'Message Pane' and do it the long way of double clicking to open and then closing open tabs or windows everytime you open a message.
Please note the Message Pane view is not some kind of 'preview'. It has often mistakenly been called a 'preview', but it isn't and never has been.
Hope this info helps explain what may be going on.
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Chosen Solution
re :my messages become read as son as I click on them without opening them.
If you single left click on a message in the list AND have the 'Message Pane' enabled, then you are selecting to open that email and display it in the Message Pane. As you obviously also have selected the option to immediately mark as read upon opening, therefore the opened email is marked as read. This is normal and correctly functioning.
A single click on an email in the list is an instruction you are sending to open that email in the Message Pane and mark as read. A double click on email in list will open in either a window or tab depending upon your settings, and mark that email as read.
So, the question is this....what makes you believe that you have not opened that email? Can you read the contents of the selected email in the lower Message Pane? If yes, then you opened the email, so it should be marked as read.
Do you usually have the 'Message Pane' enabled? Most people tend to use the Message Pane as it is much quicker to read emails and uses less clicking so reducing RSD, but perhaps you were not using it before?
You can switch the Message Pane on and off as desired. There are a few ways of doing this, all correct, choose one which suits your setup. Via 'Menu Bar':
- 'View' > > 'Layout' > 'Message Pane'
Via 'Mail Toolbar':
- 'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Layout' > 'Message Pane'
Via keyboard:
- toggle the view using F8 key
Suggestions: Stop clicking on items which you do not want to issue an instruction on as this is not a healthy habit and potentially can result in you clicking on something you perhaps should not have done. The mouse, keyboard, mousepad etc are used by selecting and clicking. Each time you do this eg: left click... an instruction of some kind is being sent via keyboard to computer and the action will depend upon what you have clicked on. eg: If you click on a folder in the Folder pane, it will open that folder and display the contents. If you click on an email it will open and display in Message Pane (if enabled).
Option: Switch off viewing using the 'Message Pane' and do it the long way of double clicking to open and then closing open tabs or windows everytime you open a message.
Please note the Message Pane view is not some kind of 'preview'. It has often mistakenly been called a 'preview', but it isn't and never has been.
Hope this info helps explain what may be going on.