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TB Mail Settings

  • 21 replies
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  • 55 views
  • Last reply by magnum6

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Hi all, New (ish) user to TB here so please be gentle ha ha!

I was using a 2013 Mac on Catalina and recently moved onto a 2019 Mac running Sequoia.

Everything copied over from old system onto new, however when I opend TB on the new Mac, my font is tiny and when I open a new email that is tiny too. The only way to enlarge it is to hold the CMD key and press + 6 times to get it to the size I want it.

I have been through all the articles etc to try to get it to stay enlarged, but as soon as I log off and back in, it goes back to being tiny.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all, New (ish) user to TB here so please be gentle ha ha! I was using a 2013 Mac on Catalina and recently moved onto a 2019 Mac running Sequoia. Everything copied over from old system onto new, however when I opend TB on the new Mac, my font is tiny and when I open a new email that is tiny too. The only way to enlarge it is to hold the CMD key and press + 6 times to get it to the size I want it. I have been through all the articles etc to try to get it to stay enlarged, but as soon as I log off and back in, it goes back to being tiny. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

All Replies (20)

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The following links might be helpful: 1. How can I increase the text size in the mail list? Reading the mail is OK but I have a hard time with the list. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1484680 2. Inbox Font Size https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1462509#answer-1673216

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Hi Yu5tiqX9og, Thank you very much for the reply.

I have tried those, neither work im afraid.

The text in the message pane is still tiny and when composing an email it's still tiny in there too.

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In Thunderbird go to Settings > General > Font & Colours and click on the button "Advanced". This will open a window for Fonts settings (see image). Choose font sizes for Proportional and Monospace - and most important of all - a "Minimum font size". Do this for "Latin" and "Other Writing Systems" and click on OK each time. Then open a text message or a new message window and control font size. If you have to modify the minimum font size open another message to control the effect.

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Hi Mapenzi, I have tried that one too, it still reverts to tiny in the message viewing pane when reopening TB and when composing a new email.

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This is very surprising. Make a test running Thunderbird in Troubleshoot mode: hold down the Alt (Option) key and launch TB. If no one has a simple solution I can give you a code for a userContent.css file (to put in a chrome folder which is moved in the profile folder) which works very well in my macOS version of TB 138....

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Hi Mapenzi, just tried that, the test is unreadable, even with my magnifying glassess on ha ha .

I can certainly try the css file, nothing else seems to be working :-)

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First of all go to Settings > General > scroll to bottom and click on "Config Editor..." In the config editor (= Advanced Preferences) search for toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets and toggle its value to true

Open TextEdit.app, copy/paste the following code

body .moz-text-plain, body .moz-text-plain pre, body .moz-text-html * { font-size: 15px !important; } and save the file as userContent.css Your Mac will add the extension .txt to your new file, renaming it to userContent.css.txt so delete .txt and confirm. Create a new folder and name it chrome, move the userContent.css file in the chrome folder.

To open the Thunderbird profile folder go to Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Folder > Show in Finder. Move the chrome folder in the profile folder. Restart Thunderbird and verify your font size in a new message window or in the message pane. If you have to modify the font size pixels in the userContent.css file, restart TB to control the effect. This code modifies the font size in plain text and in HTML messages.

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Hi Mapenzi, no, the font is still the same size in the message pane and in composing a new email.

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Thank you for your comment, Wayne. Paul's case is particular inasmuch as he needs to increase font size only in message pane and in compose window. Playing with layout.css.devPixelsPerPx for exemple can give disastrous effects since it modifies fonts in the whole UI.

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Paul R said

Hi Mapenzi, no, the font is still the same size in the message pane and in composing a new email.

This is very odd but I have always seen that user have difficulties to realize userChrome.css or userContent.css files. There are too many pitfalls to avoid, a simple period in the wrong place and the file doesn't work. Look at my userContent.css file image and compare with yours.

If there is no error in your userContent.css file the cause of your font issue is certainly located in your Thunderbird profile but it is difficult to identify this cause. If I go back to your first message it seems that you didn't use Thunderbird on your old Mac, but installed it when you switched to a newer Mac running Sequoia. So your TB profile must be a new one and not an old profile used with an earlier TB version, transferred from the old Mac.

The ultimate test would be to create a new Thunderbird profile, set up an account and verify the font size(s). To do this you need to open the TB profile manager: go to Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profiles > about:profiles In the About Profiles tab click on "Create a new profile" and follow the instructions.

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In Mac Settings, type in "font" and pick "Text size (Display). What do you see for "Mail"?

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One more hint: when you go to Settings > Composition > HTML Style > Size which are your settings? (see image with my settings)

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Hi Wayne, please see attached.

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Hi Mapenzi, please see attached.

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Paul R said

Hi Mapenzi, please see attached.

As far as I know it is not macOS which rules text size in Thunderbird. I have no new ideas, I have never seen your specific font problem. Are you sure that your userConten.css file is correctly set up? So the definite test is a new profile ...

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Hi Mapenzi, I have no idea if its set up correctly, I'm a user not a tech.

It worked fine on my old Mac (2013 on Catalina) and now it's all tiny on the new Mac (2019 on Sequoia), I never changed anything, it just worked, I cant drag and drop photos from TB to my desktop either with Seaqouia, I have no idea why not ha ha :-)

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Hi Paul, WHAT worked fine on your "old Mac (2013 on Catalina)" ? Didn't you tell in your first message that you are "New (ish) user to TB"?

Regarding your Thunderbird history, you still did not explain how you migrated from your old to the new Mac. Had you installed TB on the old Mac, and if yes, which version was it? And still if yes: since your Mac migration do you still use the same old TB profile on the new Mac? Which TB version is actually installed on the new Mac?

Modified by Mapenzi

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Hi Mapenzi, you have misread what I typed.

I had a 2013 MAC running Catalina.

I have only been using TB on that mac for around 1 year, everything was fine.

I now have a 2019 MAC running Sequioia, Everything has gone tiny (what I've mentioned - message pane and new email ) the only way I can get the text to a size i can view it on the new MAC is to hold the CMD key and press + 6 times.

I migrated using Time Machine.

The TB version is 138.0.2 (64 bit) exactly the same one i was using on the old MAC with Catalina. With the same profile.

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Thank you for your clarifications. I had to ask those details because I can't find the cause of your issue and because in my experience in TB forums I have seen many errors committed when migrating to another PC.

Now all I can advise you is to start up your Mac in safe mode: https://support.apple.com/en-is/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac If the problem persists restart your Mac in normal mode and test Thunderbird in an new profile.

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