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I need to change the "from" address (the "add to addressbook" address) in the first line of emails that I send. How do I do this?

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  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

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I need to change the "from" address (the "add to addressbook" address) in the first line of emails that I send so that people reply to my email alias not the address where my emails originate. How do I do this?

I need to change the "from" address (the "add to addressbook" address) in the first line of emails that I send so that people reply to my email alias not the address where my emails originate. How do I do this?

All Replies (9)

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is this live (I do not work correctly dot com) alias

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Sorry, what do you mean by this?

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I mean is this an alias on a live.hotmail/msn/ some other name for hotmail account. The alias function is them does not work.

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I am using an alias provided by the Instititute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in the US.

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If you need this on all emails you send you could try this: Tools > Account Settings select the original email address mail account name 'Reply to addresses: enter the reply to email address. click on OK

Or you can add 'Reply to' in any email you send. Open a new Write message where it says TO, click on drop down option and select 'Reply to' and enter the email address.

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None of these solutions result in the correct address when replying to an email.

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The solutions I gave mean that after sending the email using your Mail account email address, if the recipient wants to respond using 'Reply', then the email address you set up in 'Reply to' would be used instead of the email address you used when sending.


I'm wondering if we have not fully understood your question.

Perhaps you mean this: You want to 'Send' an email, but when you click on 'Write', the auto fill FROM email address is not the one you actually want to use when sending.

You say you want to use another email address - one issued by the Instititute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in the US.

Have you created a mail account in Thunderbird for that email address, so you can send and receive emails to that email address? Doing this would give you the option you requre. You would have two separate mail accounts, one for each email address. File > New > Exisitng Mail account or Menu Icon > New Messages > Existing mail acount

The you can change the FROM to another by looking at selections in drop down list.

Or perhaps you mean you mean you need to set up a multiple identies for the current mail account in thunderbird.. See info on multiple identies:

Tools > Account Settings select the mail account name click on 'Manage Identites' button thetr will already be one default identity. Click on 'Add' work through the Tabs, - Settings, copies & Foldres etc adding all the new information. Click on OK when done. click on 'Close'

click on OK to save and close Account Settings.

then when you create a new Write message, the FROM will offer a drop down selection to choose from.

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I need to defeat this Thunderbird characteristic: "When you write a new message, Thunderbird uses the default identity for the account you are working in." I have tried setting up a second identity (using "Manage Identities") but TB still insists on using the "FROM:address" field that is the actual ISP address rather than the alias that I want people to reply to.

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So you have added a new 'Identity' to your existing email address. If someone sends an email using that 'other identity' you have a choice of where those received emails can go. they can be received into the original mail account, like a collect all in the one Inbox or perhaps sent to Local Folders, so you can see them as separate. Or you can filter on that identity to put those emails in a specific folder.

When you REply to any incoming mail that has used that new identity email address, it will use the new identity in the Email address in FROM assuming the received email in the main mail account of which the new identity email is applied.

This should also now offer the added identity email address as an option in the FROM drop down list. So you can easily swap when sending an email if required.


If you want to send using your default email address to people, but want their reply to use the identity email address: Tools > Account Settings select the original email address mail account name Where it says: 'Reply to addresses: enter the reply to identity email address. click on OK

This means when they click on 'Reply' it will auto insert the Reply-to option. This will work providing it is a 'Reply' to an email you sent which contains the Reply-to email address.


If someone is not actually replying by using the Reply-to new identity email address: In other words they are sending you a new email using the original email address because perhaps that is the one in their address book or the one they located on a webpage etc. Then, when you select to Reply to that email, it will use the email address to which it was sent to in the FROM field - the original email address. Hence why you would need to select the new identity FROM in the drop down list.

One way to get around this is set out below.


If you do not use an identity - instead you create another existing mail account for the 'identity' email address, so you have two mail accounts for the two email addresses.

You can move selected emails manually or perhaps using a filter to screen them from the original mail account into the newly created mail account. Then when you click on Reply, it will use the new mail account email address instead of the original email address.