It's there to let you know there's an update to Thunderbird pending.

i think that is doorhanger icon.

• Disabled auto-update of TB : inside the linked page , click on the topside 1st link to goto the auto-update disable instruction page into another website.

@atErik please stop this campaign of suggesting people disable updates.

@MedeaFleecestealer Please do not disable updates. Simply doing the update will remove the green arrow.

Well, I'm not quite sure what that "use a background service to install updates" would even do, but I've unticked it now. I always have the "check for updates, but let me choose to install them" ticked, but having an arrow with no explanation of what it's for is just silly. Also I was getting the arrow many, many times before I ever got a notification of an update which is also a bit whacky. I can't really see the need for the arrow option when there's already the option to be notified to start with. It seems redundant to me.

Maybe the whole thing isn't working properly because I did have an update to Thunderbird the other day which I installed, but when I checked in the options menu for this there was yet another update waiting for which I hadn't yet been notified, although the green arrow may have been for that.

Atm I haven't seen the arrow since I unticked the box, but I'll wait a few days to see whether it comes back and whether I have more updates that I don't get notified about before I mark this as solved.

you do realize, what @atErik doesn't solve your problem and still allow you to get updates?

Maybe the whole thing isn't working properly because I did have an update to Thunderbird the other day which I installed, but when I checked in the options menu for this there was yet another update waiting for which I hadn't yet been notified, although the green arrow may have been for that.

Yes, that would be why.

But surely Thunderbird should notify me of an update with the "check for updates, but let me choose whether to install them" ticked? It always used to. Or have they added an extra - and unnecessary layer - with this other box for the green arrow?

The green arrow is just a change of HOW you get notified. The update doesn't happen until you act.

If your question is, can you get rid of the green arrow UNTIL you choose to install, I think the answer is no. But it's not obtrusive.

But it is actually. I keep Thunderbird open all the time, but minimised to my desktop and once that arrow appears - if nothing is done - then the desktop icon will flash orange at the same time every day until something is done about it. Now that's fine if you know what the arrow does, but I didn't. So every day at whatever time it's decided on the icon flashes and will continue to do so until I click on it and open Thunderbird up again. And as said I get this arrow appearing days before I ever get the notification itself that there's a download.

I can't see the need for it myself when I get a written message that there's a new update and do I want to install it. The problem atm is that the written notification doesn't seem to be happening until much later after the arrow appeared.

please follow the link i posted earlier, that shows various options: how to disable/enable Auto-Update. how to disable/enable Update. how to disable/enable Update completely. how to disable/enable update or auto-update unless user him/herself manually updates. how to disable/enable doorhanger. etc. etc.

please use Ctrl+F buttons to search for doorhanger, etc

Okay, there's another update and the green arrow is still appearing. But ... since I somehow managed to get 2 copies of the same e-mail account a while back I think I'm going to uninstall and re-install Thunderbird to try and get back to only one. I'm going to copy all my data (hopefully!) that I have in my various folders by following this

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer

and then hopefully putting them back again into just the one account.

The green arrow is just a change of HOW you get notified. The update doesn't happen until you act. If your question is, can you get rid of the green arrow UNTIL you choose to install, I think the answer is no. But it's not obtrusive.

I just click the arrow and select the update later... that gets rid of it entirely. Personally I think it is a bug that the arrow disappears, but it does.

Edit... link to the bug report from V68 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1578175

Okay, there's another update and the green arrow is still appearing. But ... since I somehow managed to get 2 copies of the same e-mail account a while back I think I'm going to uninstall and re-install Thunderbird to try and get back to only one. I'm going to copy all my data (hopefully!) that I have in my various folders by following this https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/moving-thunderbird-data-to-a-new-computer and then hopefully putting them back again into just the one account.

Thunderbird will reinstall exactly as it is now. uninstalling and reinstalling has been known to fix some operating system integration issues. But otherwise is is a total waste of time.

I suggest you go to account settings and simply remove the second account using the account actions button. It will not only be more effective but significantly faster. Just be sure to deal with the correct account it defaults to the one selected in the list above it.

Won't that delete both of them though, because they are exactly the same e-mail account?