When you close a folder, Thunderbird should remember how it is configured and should restore the same layout next time you open it. So once you have sorted as you want, it should stay that way.

You can sort by most of the displayed columns - just click the label (it is actually a button) at the top of the column. So, click on "Date" to sort by date. Click it again to reverse the sorting order. The notable exception is the "threads" button which, rather than sorting, toggles threading on and off.

You can also use the menu item View|Sort By|… to set sorting parameters.

You can drag any of these buttons to re-position it, and you can grab and drag their edges to set column widths.

You can add, remove or re-arrange the columns shown by right-clicking any one of them to reveal a list of available columns. The options at the bottom of the list of columns allow you to apply your settings to other folders (and accounts!)

I don't know of any way to set the column and sorting defaults globally; but the "Apply columns to…|Folder and its children" option gets you a long way towards a global setting.

Hi Zenos, Yes, I'm aware of the manual possibilities for configuration etc., I just wondered if anyone had come up with a "global" means of applying a default yet. It is all so unnecessarily time consuming the way it is at present.

Thanks anyway.

I'll keep hoping.

Ian