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Thunderbird repeatedly crashes while writing emails

  • 7 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by Ed

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For about 2 weeks, EVERY time I try to write an email, after typing a few lines or so, the whole window 'grays out' and becomes UN-responsive. I get no error message. Waiting for it to respond doesn't work and I have to close out and re-start Thunderbird. Sometimes Thunderbird will have saved some portion of my email in my 'Drafts' folder, but not reliably, so I have to frequently 'Control + S' - save it to avoid having to re-type the entire message again. Troubleshoot Mode doesn't help, nor does clearing the cache. I've been hoping an update would come up that would solve this, either from Thunderbird or Windows (11), but not so far. Please tell me how I should resolve this - I have used Thunderbird for years (and regularly contribute too) and don't want to have to change to different email client.

For about 2 weeks, EVERY time I try to write an email, after typing a few lines or so, the whole window 'grays out' and becomes UN-responsive. I get no error message. Waiting for it to respond doesn't work and I have to close out and re-start Thunderbird. Sometimes Thunderbird will have saved some portion of my email in my 'Drafts' folder, but not reliably, so I have to frequently 'Control + S' - save it to avoid having to re-type the entire message again. Troubleshoot Mode doesn't help, nor does clearing the cache. I've been hoping an update would come up that would solve this, either from Thunderbird or Windows (11), but not so far. Please tell me how I should resolve this - I have used Thunderbird for years (and regularly contribute too) and don't want to have to change to different email client.

Chosen solution

Try this:

- go to TB menu > Settings > General

- scroll all the way down and click the 'Config editor' button on the right
- click 'Accept the risk and continue' if that appears
- search for accessibility.force_disabled > change the value to 1 > click the check mark
- restart TB
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All Replies (7)

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Thanks for trying - but not helpful: mostly very generic, or does not apply to my configuration, or too painful to consider e.g creating a new profile. Appears problem started with the Thunderbird update I installed 11/20/25, or possibly the latest Win 11 security update 11/12/2025 (or, unlikely, Win 11 feature update 11/19/2025). I am only running Windows Defender (no other firewalls or antivirus/malware programs). The last Windows defender security alert was 9/15/2021. There have been no Windows crash reports since 3/13/2025. Safe mode doesn't help, nor does working off-line. I keep my spam and trash folders clean more than daily. No themes, calendars or add-ons are used. Thunderbird behaves totally normally for all receiving and sending, storing, retrieving and file folder functions - the problem is only when typing or editing a new message and can occur after two or as many as 10 lines of text (no special fonts or characters used). When it crashes, there is no unusual or interesting activity seen in task manager (so I could have grabbed a screen shot).

Attached is the Thunderbird-generated troubleshooting information (excluding the final "graphics information - file too big to attach). Hope you can help!:


 Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 140.5.0esr
   Build ID: 20251108022659
   Distribution ID:
   Update Channel: esr
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:140.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/140.5.0
   OS: Windows_NT 10.0 26200
   OS Theme:
   Launcher Process: Enabled
   Multiprocess Windows: 0/0
   Fission Windows: 0/0
             Enabled by default
   Remote Processes: 1
   Enterprise Policies: Inactive
   Google Location Service Key: Missing
   Google Safebrowsing Key: Missing
   Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing
   Safe Mode: false
   Memory Size (RAM): 31.8 GB
   Disk Space Available: 653 GB
 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (pop3) pop.mail.yahoo.com:995, SSL, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: , smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465, SSL, passwordCleartext, true
     OUTGOING: , smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465, SSL, passwordCleartext, false
   account2:
     INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, 0, passwordCleartext
   account3:
     INCOMING: account3, , (pop3) pop.mail.yahoo.com:995, SSL, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: , smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465, SSL, passwordCleartext, true
   account5:
     INCOMING: account5, , (pop3) pop.gmail.com:995, SSL, OAuth2
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true
 Libraries
     Library
     Status
     Expected minimum version
     Version in use
     Path
       RNP (OpenPGP)
       OK
       0.17.1
       0.17.1.MZLA.140.5.0esr.botan
       C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\rnp.dll
       OTR
       Failed to load. OTR chat encryption will not work.
       -
       -
       -
 Calendar Settings
   Home
     Name
     Value
     Name:
     Type: storage
     Disabled:
     Username:
     URI:
     Refresh Interval:
     Read-only:
     Suppress Alarms:
     Cache Enabled:
     iMIP Identity: id2
     iMIP Disabled:
     iMIP Account:
     Organizer Id:
     Force Email Scheduling:
     Popup Alarms Supported:
     Alarms on Invitation Supported:
     Max Alarms Per Event:
     Attachment Supported:
     Max Categories:
     Privacy State Supported:
     Priority Supported: true
     Event Supported:
     Task Supported:
     Local Time Supported:
     UTC/GMT Supported:
     Auto-Scheduling Supported:
 Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
 Remote Processes
   Type: Count
   GPU: 1
 Add-ons
     Name
     Type
     Version
     Enabled
     Location
     ID
       Light
       theme
       1.3
       true
       app-builtin
       thunderbird-compact-light@mozilla.org
       Amazon.com
       extension
       1.1
       false
       app-builtin
       amazondotcom@search.mozilla.org
       Bing
       extension
       1.0
       false
       app-builtin
       bing@search.mozilla.org
       DuckDuckGo
       extension
       1.0
       false
       app-builtin
       ddg@search.mozilla.org
       Google
       extension
       1.0
       false
       app-builtin
       google@search.mozilla.org
       Wikipedia (en)
       extension
       1.0
       false
       app-builtin
       wikipedia@search.mozilla.org
       Dark
       theme
       1.3
       false
       app-builtin
       thunderbird-compact-dark@mozilla.org
       System theme — auto
       theme
       1.4.1
       false
       app-builtin
       default-theme@mozilla.org
 Security Software
   Type: Name
     Antivirus: Microsoft Defender Antivirus
     Antispyware:
     Firewall: Windows Firewall
 Legacy User Stylesheets
   Active: false
   Stylesheets: No stylesheets found
 Graphics
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Chosen Solution

Try this:

- go to TB menu > Settings > General

- scroll all the way down and click the 'Config editor' button on the right
- click 'Accept the risk and continue' if that appears
- search for accessibility.force_disabled > change the value to 1 > click the check mark
- restart TB
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That seems to have solved it - will report later if problem recurs over time. I'd have never found this solution without your help - Thank You!!

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cwaters1 said

That seems to have solved it - will report later if problem recurs over time. I'd have never found this solution without your help - Thank You!!

It's actually a bug. It may help the developers if you:

- change accessibility.force_disabled back to 0

- click TB menu > Help > Troubleshooting information

- press Ctrl-F and search for accessibility

- press Enter 3-4 times until you get to the Accessibility section

- copy what's in the four boxes and paste that here

- close that tab and revert accessibility.force_disabled back to 1

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I hope this is what you requested - and that it helps resolve the problem for others so effected:

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cwaters1 said

I hope this is what you requested - and that it helps resolve the problem for others so effected:

That's it - thanks.

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