Generally, if you have TB set to show newest messages first, that automatically happens, as the message at the top, being unread, will be highlighted.

Do you mean highlighted in bold or seelcted? I am coming from WLM 2012, where upon opening WLM the first entry in the message pane is selected and shows in the preview pane. In TBird, I have to select the first message before it is shown in the preview pane. It is the WLM method I am trying to emulate. Might not be possible. It is only one extra click, but...

Everything else I have been able to customise so the workflow is almost identical to WLM.

Regards,

Steve

This question is really the same question you previously asked four days ago

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1381768

Thunderbird can remember to use the folder previously selected prior to exit, so when it starts up it will be focused on the eg: 'Inbox' folder. It can start up and display previously opened last selected email in Message Pane.

However, Thunderbird does not start up and automatically open unread emails without user intervention for obvious security reasons.

In Thunderbird, there is no such thing as a 'preview pane'. In order to see contents of an email, it must be opened. If an email is selected (single left click) in the 'Thread Pane - also known as 'Message List' - it displays in the lower 'Message Pane' if it is enabled.