Yonke imikhiqizo Community Forum

Perhaps set the previous iteration of the search bar as an option in the settings. Not having easy access to all my search engines at once, and having to spend those extra seconds to click on the search icon, select the one I want to use in the new list layout, wastes precious time. This is a real boon to my productivity and would love a return.

Hello Thunderbird team,

We are an organisation that recently migrated from another email client to Thunderbird. Overall the client has been fast and easy to use, but we have identified a key functionality gap that impacts our day-to-day operations.

Previously we relied heavily on the ability to search not only in email body text but also inside PDF attachment contents (e.g., specific keywords within attached PDF files). In Thunderbird this capability is currently missing, existing search and add-ons (e.g., Expression Search – NG, etc.) do not index or find text inside PDFs.

This feature is critical for business users that need to locate emails based on text inside attachments. We would like to request that full-text search of common attachment types (PDF, Word documents, etc.) be considered for inclusion in a future Thunderbird release, ideally with options for indexing and performance controls.

If this is already on the roadmap, we would appreciate any guidance on how to enable it or track progress. If not, we would be grateful if the team could evaluate this enhancement.

Thanks for your work on Thunderbird and wishing you a happy new year!

I feel so incompetent regarding this because I feel it should JUST WORK, but for me it just doesnt...

When searching for a name/date/etc in the top right search bar I typically get no result or unusable ones. Obviously this is a problem when I dont know where a particular email may be.

When I use the search messages window from my root folder, the one that gives more flexibility ie; match any, subject,contains, etc...i also get no results. For example a message that is currently an open tab in TB cant be found by that search messages window. its still searching and i began the search before I started writing this question...

When in a folder or sub-folder, the quick filter search feature works as expected.

I've checked all the places i could imagine that might govern global search options that might change this critical seeming lack of functionality and have found none.

Is this a true limitation or am I just missing something ?

thanks for your consideration- q

After much searching and guesswork, I've finally worked out that the "cross in a box" icon on the Firefox android search bar is to allow qr codes to be scanned. Maybe you could add a tool-tip for these more obscure icons?

Hi,

I do like Thunderbird but there are a couple of things that i'm finding it frustrating to work with and wondered if someone could provide some help?

So I use quite a lot of nested folders, sometimes up to 5 levels deep to keep things organised. Eg:

I a sub folder structure like so:

Trips - -Asia 2025 - - - -Hotels - - - -Flights - - - - - -International - - - - - -Domestic - - - -Parks - - - - - -Park 1 - - - - - -Park 2 - - - - - -Park 3 - -Europe 2025 - - - -Parks - - - - - -Park 1 - - - - - -Park 2

I'd like to be able to be able to select a top level folder (such as Asia 2025) and see all the messages in it and all it's subfolders. Effectively ALL the emails relating to the trip. Is there a way to achieve this?

Second issue: I have a saved search folder called Flagged. Right now I have to edit the properties of the saved search, then click "Choose" and manually tick each folder / sub folder I wish to show flagged messages for. I know I can select the first, select the last, press spacebar to toggle those folders. But it doesn't expand subfolders, and it means that when I add more folders (which I do very very often), I have to remember to manually update the list of selected folders (on 2 machines too as i have this account set up in 2 places). Is there a way to just select a parent folder (in my case i'd like to just select the account itself) and have it automatically include everything below that. Then I don;t need to update or change it as my folders change.

Surely both of these suggestions are sensible and would increase the usability of Thunderbird.

Also, how can I find out what folder a message is stored in from the message in cards view, the message detail panel itself or the right click menu of the message card?

Thanks, Neil

I have found Wikipedia to be biased and to contain much incorrect information. I would prefer to omit results from Wikipedia and to use data from Grokipedia instead. This presents two questions: 1. Will Mozilla add a general option to add or remove search sources? And 2. will Mozilla add Grokipedia to its list of sources?

I have turned all search features off in settings and changed all relevant entries to False in About:config and it is still happening! Why did this change, I do not want this, I did not ask for this and I want it to be returned to how it worked before! NOW!

In Firefox 148.0, I am encountering an issue related to input‑focus behavior on the default New Tab Page. I would like to confirm whether this behavior is now hardcoded or whether any configuration options remain available to modify it.

Issue description

When opening a new tab, Firefox displays a search box in the center of the page. In previous versions, this search box could function as a true input field. However, in Firefox 148.0, any attempt to type into this field results in the input focus being immediately transferred to the address bar (Awesome Bar). As a result, the central search box no longer accepts direct input and appears to function only as a visual entry point.

Configuration options already tested

Based on documentation and community discussions for earlier Firefox versions, I attempted to locate and modify the following about:config preferences:

• browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar
• browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar2

Neither preference exists in Firefox 148.0. I also reviewed other Activity Stream and URL bar–related preferences but did not find any that influence this focus‑handoff behavior.

Current observations

Testing suggests that Firefox 148.0 may have removed the internal toggles that previously controlled this behavior. The focus handoff from the New Tab Page search box to the address bar appears to be enforced at the application level, with no remaining user‑configurable switches exposed through about:config.

Questions for clarification

1. 1 Has the focus‑handoff mechanism for the New Tab Page been fully hardcoded in Firefox 148.0, making it no longer configurable through about:config?

1. 2 Is there a new or undocumented preference that restores the ability for the New Tab Page search box to receive input directly?

1. 3 Are there design documents, Bugzilla tickets, or release notes that describe the removal of the previous handoff preferences?

1. 4 If this behavior is now intentional and no longer user‑configurable, is using an extension (e.g., New Tab Override) the only remaining method to prevent focus from being redirected to the address bar?

Any technical insight or references from developers or community members would be greatly appreciated.

Why is the address bar now a search? This is annoying. How can I change this? I have already change about:config settings to false and nothing changes.

Thank you Rafal

I downloaded Foxfire esr version to get rid of goggle. I transferred my data from google. Now the Google search is showing up. Should I uninstall goggle to get rid of it?

quick find, aka shift-7 sucks, not to be mean but when i try to type in my game im making it comes up as quick find, im using scratch and im making a calculator, please help me find out how to de-activate it.

Hey all!

I was just wondering why when you were platforming as one of the only browsers that didn't use AI, a CEO change-over was enough to completely backtrack on the values of the company to instead push for a use of AI. As a concerned adult I'm no longer able to verify accurate information in my searches because the first things to come up are AI inventions of information, not the actual websites that people put time and effort into running to ensure we get as close to human information as possible.

Whenever I try to search my various emails for some text, at least 40% of the time it shows me the attached message. I'm on Version 149.0.1 but it's been happening ever since I installed Thunderbird (maybe 4 or 5 months ago?) My first move is to check that I haven't mis-spelled the word I'm looking for (which I usually haven't) and I definitely know that the word is valid for one or more emails. So why does this message keep appearing?

Previously I'd been running an old 32-bit version of Thunderbird (which I don't have installed any more) but I don't remember ever seeing this with the older version.