Thunderbird Support Forum

My Thunderbird has been working properly for about 30 years, but now refuses to open. Message received says 'Authentication failed'. This happens repeatedly (for at least 20-30 times) and appears to relate to my password. It suggests 'Retry' or 'Enter new password'. The 'Retry' repeats as before so I check the Saved Passwords and enter the one saved. I get the same message. I am using Version 115 and have been for some time.

Could this be related to a change of Profile? There must be a way to reset the password? I have checked all the settings and no errors appear, all settings confirmed.

I have thought about a Recovery Mode and seem to remember seeing a message that I do have that. I just don't know how to access it.

In a world where respondent's often draft messages about a new subject by lazily replying to messages on an old subject, does anyone find Threading helpful? Why is it now the default.

After View/Sort by/Unthreaded then propagating that by "apply current view to all folders." All folders do in fact sort by unthreaded. But if I create a new subfolder it defaults to sort by threaded. Please, is there anyway to entirely disable Threading?

Hi, I want to use Windows Task Scheduler to send command line emails via Thunderbird.

I have found only: thunderbird -compose "attachment='C:\first.txt,C:\second.txt'"

This works. But I also want to include email to, subject, text body and send.

I have tried options like Blat. Blat works but not with gmail.com as they block it. So with Thunderbird installed locally I may be able to work around the new gmail restrictions.

Many thanks.

I have spent the last two days trying to re-establish receiving/sending emails on my Apple MacBook Pro using Thunderbird without success. This problem developed suddenly about 3 or 4 days ago and only affects the MacBook, not any other device (I have an iMac and two iPads). I have gone through the instructions in Thunderbird's support pages and those in Mozilla with no success.

How do I fix this please? Would the easiest way be to simply delete the account xxxxxxx.gmail.com from Thunderbird on my MacBook and re-instate it by adding it back in?

All the setting for IMAP and SMTP are correct and the username/password is identical on all my devices.

Hi,

TB 91.5.0 on Windows 10 (with profile folder excluded from virus scan)

The latest update to seems to have resurrected a problem with saving copies of sent emails. Sending works fine, but copying of the sent email to the sent folder causes the send dialog to hang. Disabling the "Place a copy in:" option in account settings eliminates the problem. Using the "Other" option to place it in a local folder works *that is not part of a unified folder* works OK.

I have tried repairing folders and deleting the sent files inside "smart folders" in the profile, with no luck.

Older details here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1363781

I'm migrating to a new computer and from Windows 10 to W11. I have successfully exported/imported the contacts using the export tool, but cannot figure out how to ex/im the calendar. I am using a SanDisk drive to move the files. Both systems have TBird 102.1.2 (64-bit).

Please give step-by-step instructions to do the calendar (only) ex/im. I do not use the Mail feature.

Starting on June 1, when I tried to use Thunderbird, I have to log into my Gmail account. I enter my email address and password and the next screen states: "Sign in with Google", which I do. The last screen in the process is "Mozilla Thunderbird Email wants to access your Google Account". I click on Allow and then the following message appears: "Authentication failure while connecting to server imap.google.com"

When I go back to Thunderbird and click on "Get Messages", I am put back into the Login loop, including 2- Step Verification..

I've used Troubleshoot Mode, I've cleared the startup cache, but neither has resolved the problem.

More Troubleshooting Information

Application Basics Name Thunderbird Version 91.10.0 Build ID 20220525135609 Distribution ID Update Folder C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\D78BF5DD33499EC2 Update History Update Channel release User Agent Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:91.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/91.0 Thunderbird/91.10.0 OS Windows_NT 10.0 19044 Application Binary C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe Profile Folder C:\0-TBird\Profiles\jsxynuvz.default (Local drive) Build Configuration about:buildconfig Memory Use about:memory Performance about:performance Registered Service Workers about:serviceworkers Third-party Modules about:third-party Launcher Process Enabled Multiprocess Windows 0/0 Fission Windows 0/0 Disabled by default Remote Processes 3 Enterprise Policies Inactive Google Location Service Key Missing Google Safebrowsing Key Missing Mozilla Location Service Key Missing Safe Mode false Profiles about:profiles Telemetry Data about:telemetry Mail and News Accounts ID Name Incoming server Outgoing servers Name Connection security Authentication method Identity Name Connection security Authentication method Default? account1 [user name]@hotmail.com (pop3) pop3.live.com:995 SSL/TLS Normal password Wes <[user name]@hotmail.com> smtp.live.com:587 STARTTLS Normal password true account2 Local Folders (none) Local Folders None Normal password account4 [user name]@gmail.com (imap) imap.gmail.com:993 SSL/TLS OAuth2 "[my name]" <[user name]@gmail.com> smtp.googlemail.com:465 SSL/TLS OAuth2 true

I can use account1 - [user name]@hotmail.com (download, read, delete, messages), but I no access to account4 - [user name]@gmail.com. I have no idea what account2 - Local Folders relates to.

On June 2 during a 2-1/2 hour unproductive session with a good computer technician I've been using for probably 10 years, Security Alerts were sent to account1 - [user name]@hotmail.com (as set up as a security step in Gmail): "2-Step Verification turned on", "App password created to sign in to your account", "App password used to sign in was removed", etc.

I have personally spent over 8 hours over the past 3 days exploring solutions suggested to other users with a similar problem but nothing has helped.

I have checked for stored passwords; there are none.

Please let me know if you need more information.

Thank you very much for you help! I will save whatever is left of my sanity!

Hi, I have several issues regarding signatures -

1) how do i make a signature consisting of some text as well as an image - i have created my signature in a new email, saved it as a HTML file and used it as a file for my signature..

2) but when i create a new email - it shows for like a 1 second and then disappears.. doesnt appear in replies or forwards..

3) i tried to instead just use an image as a signature.. again just shows up for 1 second in replies and forwards and disappears..

have set all settings as instructed in the various answers in the forums..

Please assist. Thanks

My thunderbird works okay, but when I select emails from imbox folder to delete it takes too long. I researched to find the problem and the only option I found was to add an exclusion to the profile folder on my windows security antivirus. Now I can select emails from the imbox and delete them without a problem, but my concern is if I will be vulnerable to virus.

I have made many attempts to move Thunderbird from my old Windows machine to my new one. The old machine was running Windows 8.1, the new one is Windows 11. I've exported, then imported using all the different ways listed but can't get all the data. I've had some success doing it one account at a time including my address book and accounts setup information and they are working properly but can't get the folder data for my accounts or any Local Folders for some reason. I don't want to mess up what I've been able to successfully migrate so I'm reluctant to doing a mass migration again. Is there a way I can migrate doing it one folder at a time without messing up the other ones?

Thunderbird’s connection to one of my gmail accounts failed today.

I removed the account and then tried to add it again to Thunderbird.

When logging in using a Google generated App password, I receive the following message:

"400. That’s an error. The server cannot process the request because it is malformed. It should not be retried. That’s all we know."

OAuth2 is in place, and I’ve carried out all other recommended checks I can find on your website. My other Gmail accounts are working fine.

Please can you help? Many thanks.

I can't send emails out of Thunderbird but can receive them, not sure what to do? Is there a phone number I can call with Thunderbird for help? I'm not that savvy with all this.

Yesterday I tried the 115 (Supernova) and I was disappointed because of the toolbar on top of the TB window: I think that you should let the user choose where put any toolbar, and I didn't find the way to move in its "classical" place (not at top but below the menu). There is a way to do it? And if not, please consider to give it as soon as possible.

On 30 May, you may lose access to apps that are using less secure sign-in technology

To help keep your account secure, Google will no longer support the use of third-party apps or devices which ask you to sign in to your Google Account using only your username and password. Instead, you’ll need to sign in using Sign in with Google

Can I upgrade my Thunderbird 115.3.1 from 32 bit to 64 bit?

My Thunderbird has recently automatically updated to V115.3.1 but remains 32 bit. When I go to the Thunderbird download page there doesn't appear to be a choice of version.

In the past, I had followed this post and created the userChrome.css file so that when I have my emails shown in Table View, if one email within a thread is unread, the whole thread is collapsed, but the subject line remains in bold.

With this latest Thunderbird update to version 115.13.1 I have lost the functionality; now the subject line of the collapsed thread shows as underlined. How can I go back to my preferred bold view?

Thanks

I have, very reluctantly, had to stop using Windows Live Mail, because gmail will no longer support it. It was a great email program and it did everything I needed. Thunderbird would seem to be the nearest thing I can find to replace Live Mail - but there seems to be some quite staggering basic functions that are missing from it. Maybe I'm alone in wanting to include a picture or two in my emails..? - not as attachments, but as part of 'the visual letter', within the text? Live Mail must be 20 years old at least - but in Live Mail I could insert an image; drag the corners to resize it; add a box rule if I wanted to; and send it on it's way. In 21stC Thunderbird I can, with many a dialogue box, insert an image... but even when I've worked out how to 'resize it', it doesn't actually reduce the file size of the image sent..! So a 7MB image, when 'resized' to something less than 1MB... still actually gets transmitted as a 7MB image - and takes forever! So my question is. How come an ancient, now almost defunct program like Live Mail, is twenty times more agile and user-friendly than 'up-to-date' Thunderbird? And before anyone mentions 'add-ons' - Live Mail did all of this straight out of the box! No 'add-on' searching or anything else required. But maybe including a picture or two in an email is a fairly revolutionary concept? With thanks for your thoughts.

My friend has been using Thunderbird for a long time. Recently I installed her new PC and restored her account profile using the profile folder on her old PC. So far so good. The problem is that her mails are not organized in folders on the mail server but she has a whole collection of folders in her Thunderbird mail client and is concerned about loosing her mails if the new PC (or the disk) would crash at some point. Of course she could just re-install Thunderbird after fixing the crash problem and sync with the mail server, but then the folder structure would be lost. First I considered using a back-up program to keep a back-up of her Thunderbird profile using cloud storage. My second thought (should have been my first thought...) is that she already has a back-up, namely the mail server. The ISP does a better job than any local back-up program to keep her mails safe. Only the missing folder structure remains a concern. So here is the question: if I change the setting to sync all folders with the mail server, what will happen: 1 - the folders in Thunderbird will disappear (only the folders, not the mails) because there are no folders on the mail server 2 - the folder structure from Thunderbird will be mirrorred on the ISP's mail server. Which one is it?

I am getting desperate as the harder I try to sort this out the bigger mess I get in.

I think after about 20 years I may have to stop using Thunderbird but I do not know what other Email client to replace it with as they all seem to be confusing.

The archiving problem particularly relates to gmails but I cannot understand the gmail webmail system at all - it seems to sort emails into categories I do not understand or need or want to use.

I cannot send a screen shot easily due to the confidential nature of emails