It used to have a small color tab in the folder pane on the left hand side. Indicating that the folder was selected.

This ismall "color tab" is not the default to mark a selected folder in the folder pane. Maybe you used an add-on which is no longer compatible with actual Thunderbird versions. By default a selected folder in the folder pane is distinguished from other (non selected) folders by background color which depends on whether the selected folder is in focus or not. Exemple: in my picture th Sent folder is selected and not in focus

Thanks mapenzi that is interesting and useful. 'l'll have a look at my extensions. That coloured icon isn't very noticeable. It would be better to have a more eye catching indication.

Thanks mapenzi that is interesting and useful. 'l'll have a look at my extensions. That coloured icon isn't very noticeable. It would be better to have a more eye catching indication.

You can manually choose whatever colour you prefer to see. A bit laborious but once set up it's fixed until you change it. Suggestion - if you have more than one account - change colour for eg: Junk/Spam and then do all the various Junk/Spam so you have same colour, then do another batch.

The icon used for the account name - The colour of that icon can be set in 'Account Settings'

• Select 'Account Settings'
• Select name of account in left pane and on the right side near the top is a 'Colour' option
• click on it to open a small window offering colour options.
• select a prefered colour and click on 'OK'

For any other folder in Folder Pane

• Right click on folder and select 'Properties'
• It offers you a 'Colour' button
• click on it to open a small window offereing colour options.
• select a prefered colour and click on 'OK'

If you are wanting to set eg: all the Junk to a strong red

• Right click on Junk/Spam folder and select properties
• click on the colour option
• select a stronger red
• click on the add to custom (assuming it's not one of the default selection)
• then click on OK

You can work through your various accounts setting up the same colour on each 'Junk/Spam' folder. It saves you from trying to remember exactly what you selected.

That coloured icon isn't very noticeable. It would be better to have a more eye catching indication.

hello, you misunderstood my first screenshot above. It's from my working profile where I put some colors by means of a userChrome.css file. It wasn't the color of the icon of the Sent folder but on the background color of the entire selected Sent container I wanted to draw your attention!

That's why I want to show you two new screenshots taken in the Thunderbird main window such as it looks by default on a Mac:

• the first image shows a selected Inbox folder in my folder pane. It also is in focus and that's why its background color is light blue which is the highlight color for a selected/focused folder.

• the second image shows a screenshot taken when the same Inbox folder is no longer in focus because in the meantime I clicked the message pane with the pointer of my mouse. You see that the background color hast changed from light blue to light gray but one can still easily distinguish the selected folder from other non selected folders.

So I still wonder what you are looking for to distinguish selected and non-selected folders in the folder pane:::

That explains it nicely. Thanks for clarifying.

I have lost the indicator in the folder pane showing which folder I'm in. It used to have a small color tab in the folder pane on the left hand side. Indicating that the folder was selected.

Please see the attached image. Are you referring to the small vertical blue bar in the red square?

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Yes, that is exactly what I meant. That has disappeared

Please see the attached image. Are you referring to the small vertical blue bar in the red square?

I am running Thunderbird 143 on macOS and I am unable to display this blue vertical bar. Is this bar a native feature in TB 143 or do you need an add-on?

Based on my own experience, Thunderbird 140.1.1esr has that small vertical blue bar (please see the attached image in my previous response), while Thunderbird 140.3.1esr does not (please see the attached image in the current response).

I am running Thunderbird 143 on macOS and I am unable to display this blue vertical bar. Is this bar a native feature in TB 143 or do you need an add-on?

I think that small bar is a native feature of Thunderbird 140.1.1esr on Windows.

I have several add-ons, but I do not think they are related to that small bar.

You are right: when I download v140.1.1esr and run it in a new profile I can see the blue vertical bar (image)! But it seems that this feature has been very furtive: when I update to v140.3.1esr the blue bar has gone.... So was it experimental ? I will try to find the corresponding CSS code to recreate it for actual versions.

I just found that the vertical blue bar had been introduced with the TB 128 Nebula version https://blog.thunderbird.net/fr/2024/07/bienvenue-au-thunderbird-128-nebula/

In Windows 11 OS Extended Support Release version 128.14.0esr Nebular series There is a vertical blue bar on the left of selected folder in Folder Pane.

Beta version 144.0b4 Eclipse series There is NO vertical blue bar on the left of selected folder in Folder Pane.

It would be reasonable to assume the thin blue bar was removed in the upgrade - perhaps it was deemed surplus to requirements as the in-focus selected folder would be blue background anyway. The idea of the design was probably to remove anything surplus to requirements and simplify the view making it less cluttered. Sometimes ideas are tried out but then removed upon feedback from users. Even if you had focus in another area eg: Message Pane - that selected folder becomes a grey background and the thin blue line also turned grey.

How to know which folder is currently selected whether you have focus on folder or not.

1. A selected folder will have a blue background highlight if window has focus or grey background if not the focus.
2. The selected folder name will appear in the far left tab above the Folder Pane as the current mail tab.
3. The selected folder name will also appear in the 'Message List Header' toolbar - positioned on left side with the number of messages.

I've found the code which created it in 128* - rather extensive - I'll test it out - If anyone does it first post info.