Change the startup options so Thunderbird starts up offline. Then it will be a dumb piece of software that does nothing until you tell it to.

However I can really not see a more pointless exercise than mail washer in any of it's forms. What is it that it does is perhaps where I am at. all I see is a pretty interface that does exactly what your mail client does.

• Thunderbird has a Bayesian spam filter. After about 50 emails marked good and bad it works out what YOU think is spam. Although it will not ever use a sender address to determine if the content is spam.
• Thunderbird automatically whitelist mail from your contacts.
• Thunderbird does not run scripts or flash in emails so the risk of infection is very low. The email is as inert as a text file really.
• Thunderbird runs HTML codes from emails in a sandbox, to keep the tricks it might contain enclosed.
• Thunderbird sanitizes the HTML before it is executed and some HTML is ignored if it presents a security risk
• Thunderbird stores emails as plain text, so not even attachments really exist in an executable form until you elect to do something with them.

Many thanks for this prompt and comprehensive response to my query. It is probably staring me in the face but I cannot locate 'start up' options in order to change them!

I find Mailwasher Pro a useful programme for initial screening, especially when I have been away and return to find a very full inbox. I am able quickly to scan through the complete list of mail from several mail clients all on the same page. If as is usually the case I want to delete a majority of the messages I can select 'all' for deletion' and just uncheck individually those that I wish to download. Then on selecting 'wash mail' the unwanted messages are immediately deleted and the Thunderbird programme opens ready for me to 'get messages' for each of the mail clients. At the moment however ALL of the messages originally shown in Mailwasher Pro are already sitting there on the screen waiting to be opened. Those that I had decided I didn't want can of course be highlighted for deletion individually, or in adjacent groups but more time consuming than with MWP.

I'm not sure why you would find a very full Inbox. Perhaps you are not using Thunderbird to it best capabilities.

Thunderbird will download and auto move Junk to Junk. You can set up these options and train the special Junk filter. So this is a bit like Mailwasher. You can also create 'Message Filters' to move specific emails to any folder you choose; so sorting eg: Family from Friends and from Business etc

All items sent to Junk can be easily scanned manually to check - just in case a good email is diverted and then all emptied in one go or auto emptied if desired. So this bit is about the same as Mailwasher.

In Thunderbird you can select any number of emails and delete in one go. However, Thunderbird usually has sorted mine automatically into a variety of folders and auto deletes Junk after x days and empties Trash on exit. I just need to compact folders ona regular basis to removes traces of previously deleted mail.

I just use Thunderbird as I don't have the time to spend on additional programs. I get quite a lot of emails each day. Why use two programs when you already have one that it all plus a load more anyway.

Here are some Start up options:

• 'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Options' > 'Advanced' > 'Network & Disc Space' tab
• click on 'Offline...' button
• uncheck 'Automatically follow detected online state'
• Manual state when starting up:
• Select: 'Offline'

• make any other required setting.
• click on 'OK'
• click on 'OK'

You should now always start up in Offline mode :)

Toad Hall has address most of what I thought. francisjohn07 said

I want to delete a majority of the messages I can select 'all' for deletion' and just uncheck individually those that I wish to download.

I suggest you try pressing Ctrl+A when you have a message selected.

Likewise I suggest you try holding shift and clicking a message. You will select everything between the currently selected message and where you clicked. Now change your key to Ctrl and click on a selected message. Now click on it again. A way to fine tune your selection list.

Many thanks for detailed info.

Thanks again for your further advice.