you can still manually update by downloading the appropriate 32-bit version and installing over the top of the current version, with thunderbird not running.

OK, good, but if someone could tell me how to undo the disabled auto update that would be ideal.

I do encourage all users to be familiar with settings, especially this one. Go to settings>general and it will appear on that pane.

All it says there is "updates disabled by system administrator". It might be worth noting that another pc I use on the same windows AD domain does have the current thunderbird. If it was a policy both would be impacted. And 100% for sure I never set a policy of any kind for thunderbird.

My hope is that updating with a later version may correct the update status.

ok I'll try that and post back.

The updates disabled by admin setting persisted. And unfortunately so did the but I was exoectubg would be fixed.

Sounds like someone is using a windows Policy. I do not claim to understand them, but you might learn something here https://enterprise.thunderbird.net/manage-updates-policies-and-customization/managing-thunderbird-policies or https://github.com/thunderbird/policy-templates/blob/master/README.md#disableappupdate

I am 100% sure that there is no windows policy in place. I am the only person on the domain that can perform those actions and I've never ever set a policy for thunderbird. I haven't had to change any policy in years...and my thunderbird stopped updating long long after that.

Screen shot please.

of...what? the forum software doesn't permit images, apparently.

a screen shot of

thunderbird updates updates disabled by system administrator

can't be very useful?

of...what? the forum software doesn't permit images, apparently.

Yes it does. JPG, PNG and GIF. Basically the normal web graphics formats. That is what the Browse button at the bottom of the typing box is for. It does not support paste or drag and drop.

ah, well here it is

Please see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1513338#c4 for some questions

It looks like you indicated that you are using Windows 7, is that right? windows 10 pro

Is your computer managed by an organization? Was it given to you for work or school? the pc with the issue is in a windows 2019 ad domain which I alone manage. I have not set any policy in years. the issue is much more recent than any policy update. I built the pc other pcs on the same domain still get tbird updates.

Do you share the computer with any other users that might have wanted to disable Firefox update? No

1) Find out if any policies are applied:

 a) Go to the special URL: "about:policies"
 b) Are there entries under the "Policy Name" heading? If so, what entries exist and what values are they set to?

No

2) Check for a policy JSON file in the installation directory:

 a) Can you locate the installation directory (the folder containing firefox.exe)?
    Typically, this will be "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox".
 b) Does that directory contain a file called "policies" or "policies.json"?
 c) If so, what is in that file?

no policies file of any sort

3) Check preferences:

 a) Go to the special URL: "about:config"
 b) Type "browser.policies" in the search bar at the top
 c) Are there any preferences that match? What are their names and values?

it says Browser Policies Applied True"'

4) Check for registry entries:

 a) Open the start menu by clicking the toolbar button or tapping the Windows key.
 b) Type "Powershell" to find the Windows Powershell application.
 c) Open the application by clicking on it tapping the ENTER key.
 d) Enter these commands (without the quotes), and let me know what output you get:
   i)  "ls -r HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Mozilla"

Name Property

Thunderbird DisableAppUpdate : 1

   ii) "ls -r HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Mozilla"

Nothing