The menu settings for font primarily address the Thunderbird components, not the messages. Okay, this may sound strange, but here is the real way to set fonts on Thunderbird. And I attached examples of my own setting of Calibri 14 as my default. If your message fonts seem small, I suggest going large, such as 20, and then resize as needed. Here goes: # in Tools>settings>general, set your default font. # then click the advanced button. Notice the drop-down menu at top. It probably says 'latin' or 'other writing systems' - this is IMPORTANT: # select 'latin from that menu, set your desired font and font size settings, click OK, # select 'otherwritingsystems' from the drop-down menu and set the IDENTICAL settings to what you did for Latin, and then click OK. In attached screenshots you will see my latin and otherwritingsystem match. Notice I also set monospace font. # if you have account set to compose HTML, then set that in tools>settings>composition to variable-width and medium font. (You would only change the HTML font setting if your intent is for recipient to receive your preferred font - not my personal recommendation.) # In settings>composition, set Sending Format to 'automatic' (just my preference, not required) NOTE: if font size is still too small, try a larger number, such as 20. the numbers in thunderbird are points, not pixels. With these settings, your compose window and your sent folders will match. And if you don't write HTML (e.g., bold, italic, color), no HTML will be sent . If you do these settings once, your font will always be consistent. This does not protect you from someone sending you a message in some god-awful font with 30 pt size, but this does provide consistency.