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Some incoming e-mails unformatted

  • 14 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 28 views
  • Last reply by Ed

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Starting this week, an increasing percentage of, BUT NOT ALL, incoming e-mails are coming through unformatted, which makes them almost unreadable. In the Cards pane nothing appears except the time stamp. Some examples: id CD/0A-06843-A1BCB986; Tue, 12 Aug 2025 23:15:38 id 09/00-49518-8A0AC986; Wed, 13 Aug 2025 10:26:48 id 24/87-15587-133DD986; Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:14:41 id 05/94-10997-4184E986; Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:33:24 I'm running ver. 140.1.1esr (64-bit).

The same messages appear fine in Thunderbird for Android on my phone. Anybody have any clue as to what's going on?

Starting this week, an increasing percentage of, BUT NOT ALL, incoming e-mails are coming through unformatted, which makes them almost unreadable. In the Cards pane nothing appears except the time stamp. Some examples: id CD/0A-06843-A1BCB986; Tue, 12 Aug 2025 23:15:38 id 09/00-49518-8A0AC986; Wed, 13 Aug 2025 10:26:48 id 24/87-15587-133DD986; Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:14:41 id 05/94-10997-4184E986; Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:33:24 I'm running ver. 140.1.1esr (64-bit). The same messages appear fine in Thunderbird for Android on my phone. Anybody have any clue as to what's going on?

All Replies (14)

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Are you using Bitdefender antivirus? If so, that's the most likely cause. To fix, click the Bitdefender icon in the system tray > Update > reboot. Keep in mind this fix is being rolled out gradually, so it may not reach everyone at the same time.

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Clicking the BitDefender icon in the system tray takes me to My Account, but there's no "Update" anywhere.  ????

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I think you need to R. click the icon. If you still can't get it updated, reboot the PC. Bitdefender should automatically update every hour after you start your computer.

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ALL my incoming emails now appear to be unformatted. This is driving me nuts. It started with the last Thunderbird update. Bitdefender is not installed on my computer (that I can tell -- I searched for it).

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Purebeads said

ALL my incoming emails now appear to be unformatted. This is driving me nuts. It started with the last Thunderbird update. Bitdefender is not installed on my computer (that I can tell -- I searched for it).

Can you post a screenshot?

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I'm not sure what screen shot to use, as I don't remember how all these incoming emails looked when I could see the formatting. I'll try to find one. I just know that emails that used to arrive with a button to click are now arriving with long, wordy links in them.

Once again, we have the developers of Thunderbird making a mess of the program. I really should stop upgrading the program, because it is upgrading it that breaks it.

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I am adding a screen shot of an incoming email that is not private. It is from the local traffic agency about route changes. These used to be formatted and readable. This one isn't.

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Purebeads said

I am adding a screen shot of an incoming email that is not private. It is from the local traffic agency about route changes. These used to be formatted and readable. This one isn't.

Try changing TB Menu Bar > View >Message Body As to 'Original HTML'.

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I tried that on one email, and it worked. I'll try it on others. I suspect that when I upgraded to the latest version of TB, it upgraded with that option turned off.

I hope I don't have to do that to every email I want to read.

Thank you for your help.

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Purebeads said

I hope I don't have to do that to every email I want to read.

Once it's set, it stays that way.

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So I see. Thank you again.

Incidentally, I did look for an option to set incoming emails to HTML, but I apparently didn't look hard enough. Even after you told me what to do, I had trouble finding it.

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Purebeads said

Incidentally, I did look for an option to set incoming emails to HTML, but I apparently didn't look hard enough. Even after you told me what to do, I had trouble finding it.

Prob. because I forgot to add 'If you don't see the menu bar on top, press the ALT key.' to my instructions :-)

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Actually, no, it wasn't that. There was something about "Message Body As" that just wasn't registering in my mind. I don't know why. I was looking for "Message Format" or something like that. I was having a senior moment. I'm just glad to have the problem resolved. Thank you.

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Purebeads said

I was having a senior moment. I'm just glad to have the problem resolved. Thank you.

lol, I certainly can identify with that! You're welcome :-)

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