This article explains how to download and install Thunderbird on Linux. This article only applies to Linux. For instructions to install Thunderbird on Mac, see Install Thunderbird on Mac. For instructions to install Thunderbird on Windows, see Install Thunderbird on Windows.

Install from Flatpak

The Thunderbird flatpak package and tarballs are maintained directly by the Thunderbird staff. Therefore, these tend to be more quickly updated to newer stable versions than other sources.

To install Thunderbird from Flatpak, you will need to install flatpak and setup flathub, if not already on your system. Flathub is the central repository for flatpaks and contains well maintained instructions on setting up flatpak installs for various distributions.

Once flatpak and flathub are all set up, you can either download and install it all from the command line, or separately download the flatpakref file and head to the command line to install it.

How to install with the command line (easier and much cooler)

flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.Thunderbird

How to install with the Graphical User Interface

1. Visit Thunderbird on Flathub.
2. Click Install and follow the instructions. You can find more options in the dropdown menu next to that button, if necessary.

Install from Snap

The Thunderbird snap package is maintained by Canonical and Thunderbird.

To install Thunderbird from Snap:

1. Install Snap on your computer.
2. Visit Snapcraft's Store page.
3. Click Install and follow the instructions.

Installing from your distribution package manager

Linux distributions normally create packages for installing Mozilla Thunderbird easily, using tools that are included with the Linux distribution. The package may contain modifications for better integration with the operating system. Maintainers of the Linux distribution control when new updates of their Thunderbird software are made available, so there may be a delay between when your distribution provides a newest available version or update compared to when an official new version or update is available at Thunderbird.net or in the flatpak. Your distribution may also provide Thunderbird without the Thunderbird branding.

To install Thunderbird using your distribution package manager, please refer to your Linux distribution's documentation. This method has the benefit of ensuring that Thunderbird and all the required libraries are installed and configured optimally for your distribution.

Installing Thunderbird manually for a Specific Release Channel (For advanced users)

Thunderbird offers four channels: Release (also known as Monthly, available March 2025), ESR (annual major releases), Beta, and Daily. These are described in detail on the developer page, with further information and tips in the articles about Thunderbird Beta and Thunderbird Daily. Please make sure your computer has the required libraries installed. Missing libraries may cause Thunderbird to be inoperable or unreliable. The requirement list can vary by channel: ESR requirements, Release, Beta, Daily requirements.

Changing channels

It is possible to change channels and keep using your existing Thunderbird data, for example to go from ESR to Release. But if you want to use a different channel and not change your existing Thunderbird data to that channel, see Running multiple channels. When changing channels you will want avoid complications and protect your profile data:

• Backup your Thunderbird profile data.
• Only move to a channel which offers a higher or equal version number. Therefore, the possible progressions are to go from ESR to Release, Release to Beta, and Beta to Daily. Once your profile data has been loaded with a newer version, you will not be able to load it with a lower version.
• You must install the newer version in the exact same installation directory name as the older version. If using the system method below, do rm -rf /opt/thunderbird and then install the chosen download into /opt/thunderbird/. If using the home method below, do rm -rf $HOME/thunderbird and then install the chosen download into $HOME/thunderbird/.

Running multiple channels

It is possible to have multiple channels of Thunderbird installed, and even run them simultaneously. Each must be installed in a different installation directory, which will force multiple Thuderbird data profiles to be used in order to protect and keep your data separated.

Installation location

When installing Thunderbird manually, you can choose to install it either in the system or home folder. Below you will find instructions for both.

System Thunderbird installation

1. Download your choice of installation channel from the download page. The file will be in the form of thunderbird-<version>.tar.bz2.
2. Open a terminal and go to the folder where your download has been saved. For example:
   cd ~/Downloads
3. Extract the downloaded file contents. This will create a folder named thunderbird. After that, you can delete the archive:
   tar xjf thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
rm thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
4. Move the uncompressed Thunderbird folder to /opt:
   sudo mv thunderbird /opt
5. Create a symlink to the Thunderbird executable:
   sudo ln -s /opt/thunderbird/thunderbird /usr/local/bin/thunderbird
6. Download a copy of the desktop file:
   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla/sumo-kb/main/installing-thunderbird-linux/thunderbird.desktop -P /usr/local/share/applications

Alternatively, if wget is not installed on your computer, go to the URL mentioned above, right-click on the page to open the contextual menu and select Save Page As. After you downloaded the file, move it to /usr/local/share/applications.

To confirm everything is installed correctly, open Thunderbird from the newly created desktop file, and go to ≡ > Help > Troubleshooting Information. In the Application Basics section of the Troubleshooting Information page, the value of Application Binary should be /opt/thunderbird/thunderbird-bin

Home Thunderbird installation - local in a user's account

If you don't have access to login as root or execute sudo commands, or just prefer to use a local Thunderbird in your account, you can make a local installation. You can also do this to have multiple Thunderbird installations for different builds.

1. Download your choice of installation channel from the download page. The file will be in the form of thunderbird-<version>.tar.bz2.
2. Open a terminal and go to the folder where your download has been saved. For example:
   cd ~/Downloads
3. Extract the downloaded file contents. This will create a folder named thunderbird. After that, you can delete the archive:
   tar xjf thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
rm thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
4. If you have downloaded a specific build, you may want to rename the uncompressed folder accordingly. For example:
   mv thunderbird thunderbird-beta
5. You can leave the uncompressed folder in your download folder, or move it to another place in your account. For example:
   mv thunderbird $HOME/thunderbird
6. Thunderbird is now ready to be used. You can run it directly from the terminal:
   $HOME/thunderbird/thunderbird &
7. Create a desktop shortcut. Note this step may be different in your Linux distribution. (Some Linux distros will allow you to right-click on the desktop and choose Create launcher from the context menu):
   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla/sumo-kb/main/installing-thunderbird-linux/thunderbird.desktop -P $HOME/.local/bin/thunderbird
8. Since the icon for the desktop shortcut will be found in $HOME/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default/ and the executable is in $HOME/thunderbird, we need to change these lines in our desktop file that we just downloaded:
   sed -i.bak -e "s|Exec=thunderbird %u|Exec=$HOME/thunderbird/thunderbird %u|" $HOME/.local/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop

sed -i.bak -e "s|Icon=/opt/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default/default128.png|Icon=$HOME/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default/default128.png|" $HOME/.local/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop

Now, your Thunderbird application icon should be found among your other applications and you can launch Thunderbird as you expect.

Thunderbird icon is displayed as a generic icon

If you are using GNOME and the Thunderbird icon is displayed as a generic icon (e.g., a gear icon), additional configuration of the thunderbird.desktop launcher is required. The following ensures the correct application icon is displayed for Thunderbird.

Identify the wmclass for Thunderbird:

1. Press Alt+F2 while Thunderbird is running to launch the run command console.
2. Type lg and press Enter.
3. In the window that appears, click on Windows in the upper-right corner.
4. Locate Thunderbird's wmclass in the displayed list.

Modify the thunderbird.desktop launcher:

1. Open the thunderbird.desktop file in a text editor.
2. In the [Desktop Entry] section, add or update the StartupWMClass key to include the wmclass value you found earlier. For example: StartupWMClass=thunderbird-esr