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Thunderbird spellcheck pop-up box covers text

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

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Using Thunderbird 78.3 on a Mac, but I know this issue has been around for a little while. Have tried searching in this support forum and more generally on the internet but don't seem to find any resolutions - so it might be a user problem with an option not set correctly...

I have "check spelling before sending" set in preferences so if I finish an email Thunderbird will spellcheck immediately. However if an error is found the pop-up box appears over the mail text obscuring it, so the spelling error is not seen in context of the sentence.

There may be occasions when an error is reported but it's actually correct, whereas other times needs correcting. However without seeing that full sentence a determination can't be made. The pop-up box is immovable...

I do have "enable spellcheck as you type" selected, but whilst typing with head down sometimes you don't notice the errors being highlighted... (sorry, not touch typist).

If that pop-up box could be floating and moveable by selecting the title bar and mouse-moving it to another screen location that would be very useful, and hopefully it remembers that position for any other errors found.

I appreciate that Mozilla is performing the underlying spellcheck operation rather than Thunderbird, but I would assume the pop-up box is Thunderbird rather than Mozilla?

Apologies if this is a user error, and in which case please do point me in the right direction to fix it.


Thanks...

Using Thunderbird 78.3 on a Mac, but I know this issue has been around for a little while. Have tried searching in this support forum and more generally on the internet but don't seem to find any resolutions - so it might be a user problem with an option not set correctly... I have "check spelling before sending" set in preferences so if I finish an email Thunderbird will spellcheck immediately. However if an error is found the pop-up box appears over the mail text obscuring it, so the spelling error is not seen in context of the sentence. There may be occasions when an error is reported but it's actually correct, whereas other times needs correcting. However without seeing that full sentence a determination can't be made. The pop-up box is immovable... I do have "enable spellcheck as you type" selected, but whilst typing with head down sometimes you don't notice the errors being highlighted... (sorry, not touch typist). If that pop-up box could be floating and moveable by selecting the title bar and mouse-moving it to another screen location that would be very useful, and hopefully it remembers that position for any other errors found. I appreciate that Mozilla is performing the underlying spellcheck operation rather than Thunderbird, but I would assume the pop-up box is Thunderbird rather than Mozilla? Apologies if this is a user error, and in which case please do point me in the right direction to fix it. Thanks...

All Replies (5)

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The spellcheck box is small and moveable here on W10. To test if you have a broken layout, run in safe mode (hold Option when launching TB) and see if the windows show correctly. If they do, launch again in safe mode, check 'Reset toolbars and controls', 'Make changes and restart'.

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Thanks sfhowes.

Unfortunately running in Safe mode makes no difference and the Spellcheck box drops out of the top bar, staying firmly fixed in the middle of that bar but not covering it. Trying to select the spellcheck box and move it doesn't work...

Happy to show a screenshot if that helps?

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Sure, post a picture. On W10, the window is moveable and can be resized, but I don't have a Mac to test.

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The spellcheck box that appears when right-clicking words that are highlighted as being mis-spelled is a floating box that positions itself just to the right of the word, extending downwards.

However if you ignore that check and select "Send Email", and in Preferences a spellcheck is performed before sending, the box that appears does not float, it's a fixed location regardless of what word it's checking. And that covers the words sometimes. (Attached image of "spellcheck before sending non-floating box")

Is that the same behaviour in W10?

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On W10, the window is moveable, just as in the case of manual checking, so it must be an OS X issue. I haven't seen any bug reports on it, but until it's confirmed by other Mac users, I suppose you will have to disable check-before-send and do it manually.