No problem at all (in principle) to use a different email client and keep the same email address.

However other users have had trouble getting a centurylink email account to work in Thunderbird.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1137620

But I would urge you to get an email address that is independent of your ISP. Then you won't lose the address if you ever do switch away from your ISP.

Thank you Zenos.

Just my supposition but possibly Centurylink doesn't like Firefox as don't some other websites. It's also possible issues may be related to SMTP and POP 3 settings.

Thanks again, Snag

Thank you Zenos.

Just my supposition but possibly Centurylink doesn't like Firefox as don't some other websites. It's also possible issues may be related to SMTP and POP 3 settings.

Thanks again, Snag

Just my supposition but possibly Centurylink doesn't like Firefox as don't some other websites. It's also possible issues may be related to SMTP and POP 3 settings.

Well, you won't know until you try. I'm interested to find if anyone else has the same difficulties as a previous poster who was prone to writing lengthy and colourful discussions, laced with much opinion, but offering very few hard facts. Usually, you can even set up multiple email clients connected to the same server.

As far as we can see, the data Thunderbird has for centurylink is in line with their published recommendations, so it's hard to see why set-up should not be straightforward.

Incompatibility between a specific browser and a website has approximately zero relevance to email protocols and clients. However, a badly run or badly configured website might well indicate equally badly run and badly configured email servers. ;-)

I did read a previous poster's lengthy and colorful discussions and gleaned some insight with the issue. You are correct and support my opinion to give it a try anyway. But I do see humor about my ignorance. Because of the myriad accounts I would have to update if I change my ISP I would rather keep what I have which has been working fine for me. I simply don't like CenturyLink email format and function issues with address book and find their customer support egregious for that condition, otherwise no issues.

I will try Thunderbird and see what happens and will let you know but don't hold me to a schedule. I'm an old fart to whom golf is more appealing. As far as browsers, maybe it's just an individual at CenturyLink who told me to use Explorer, advice which I've ignored. But I've been told by others not to use Norton with which I've never had an issue.

We all know by now that bad reviews are far outnumbered by happy folks or we'd never eat at Fisher's Fabulous Fish Shack.

Thanks again Zenos for your time.

Zenos,

Thunderbird downloaded and working just fine synched with CenturyLink... so far. I followed the Thunderbird protocol exactly and it was fast and easy. Centurylink does have step by step instruction but there is a conflict at their SSL settings and that may be why some folks have issues. Their SSL settings do not match with Thunderbird and when I ran a test with their setting it didn't process so I used Thunderbird default settings. When I spoke with CL they advised me to use T's settings. And by the way, so far Norton isn't snorting.

But, using a comma separated file to import contact list resulted in some hokey-pokey issues altho all info is there, just not in proper configuration.

So, if you didn't know about centurylink's settings shown on their website and just let Thunderbird do its thing, does it work, or not? If not, what exactly do you have to change?

Some guidance on importing CSV files here:

http://xenos-email-notes.simplesite.com/417788922

Thunderbird download works perfectly after entering name, email address and password and is very fast. I looked at Thunderbird manual configuration and it is just fine as it is. I just downloaded to another computer without doing manual configuration and it was a snap and I've just bounced emails back and forth between different accounts and computers without a hitch. A person does not need to know Centurylink settings and is better off not knowing because their SSL settings are incorrect. I spoke to them about it twice and they were quite indifferent and said to follow Thunderbird settings. > I didn't have a problem importing CSV file. The problem is how and what fields are filled from the import. It's not friendly until each address info is realigned. I've done that and am good to go. The issue is understandable as import format is different than Thunderbird format but all the info is there somewhere. > I haven't been successful trying to suppress email address of recipient when sending. Can't find anything in any option or account settings. Forum example/instructions have different screen image than my setting screens. Examples look old.

By the way, you can see centurylink settings at ctlhelp.com if you care. Click Email tab then Software setup and then select domain centurylink,net

Thanks for the heads up on centurylink account set-up. I really couldn't believe it's as difficult as has been claimed. But not being a customer, I can't set up an account and check any of this for myself.

Email servers need to know the email addresses you're sending to. In what way would you want to "suppress" addresses? Even if they are hidden from sight, they must be in the message. I dislike software that pretends to do things leaving the user with a false sense of security. This is a common trait of Microsoft products.

Next time you get a message that appears to have suppressed the correspondent's email addresses, use ctrl+u (in Thunderbird!) to see its "source" and you'll see what is included in the message.

If you are sending a message to multiple folk and quite rightly do not want to share their addresses with one another then use Bcc: or a Mail Merge facility. But don't expect regular email using To: or Cc:, regardless of any cosmetic dressing-up, to be able to withhold the addresses of multiple recipients.

If you do use Bcc:, make some test mailings first to check that your SMTP server does as you expect. A few of them simply do not do what you'd wish for.

To get to Bcc:, simply click on To: in the composition window. See attached picture.

Tip: change it before adding the first address, then each added address will adopt the Bcc:. Or use the "Add to Bcc:" button in the Contacts Sidebar. F9 to see this.

Hope this is down to fireside chat by now. I understand email address protocol and how to see invisible addresses but I simply don't like to see the clutter of 20 email addresses in addition to all the recipients. All I want to see is Tom, Dick and Sarah. I just sent out a test email. I addressed the 1st recipient and then clicked To: and selected Bcc for the 2nd.

The absolute worst feature tho is having to use multiple To: boxes when sending to 20 people. So I've got all that clutter of 20 stacked address lines and wonder if the recipients get the same thing. It's a waste of time creating those 20 lines or using the address book to do it by hunting thru a long list with control key. So what if it was an original layout decision upon creation? It's wasteful, cumbersome and archaic. There's a good reason why I liked Windows Live Mail. It was simple, easy and straightforward without having to go thru extra exercise to create mail. But granted too, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles so that is a negative for a lot of folks.

If I change View setting to Contact Sidebar (F9 doesn't do it) it opens to Personal Address Book which is empty because my list is captioned as Contacts in Address Book and that choice isn't there. So that means I have to either move my contact list to personal address book or duplicate and try to remember to maintain both at the same time or ignore that feature as useless.