How do I use the new Thunderbird 3 Global Search feature

Global search is enabled by default. (It can be disabled on the Advanced page in the Thunderbird Preferences.) The global search text box is located on the right side of the toolbar above the Quick Filter bar.

The search is performed in all fields in all message: subject, message body, From address, To address, etc. The search is not case-sensitive - searching for "thunderbird" will return messages that contain both "thunderbird" and "Thunderbird".

Search results will be shown in a new tab. You will be able to filter the search by various criteria.

Searching for a single term

Enter a term in the search box. As you type, a drop-down list will display possible matches for your term (such as email addresses that match the characters you have entered).

Searching for multiple terms

Enter multiple terms in the search box. Thunderbird will search for messages that contain at least one occurrence of each of the specified terms. If you enclose multiple terms within quotation marks, Thunderbird will search for the words as a phrase. That is, the search results will only contain messages that have all the words in the order they are specified in the search field. These two types of searches can be combined. For example, if you enter:

converting "imap pop"

...Thunderbird will find email that contain the term "converting" and the phrase "imap pop".

Examples

Search for the terms "new", "Thunderbird" and "pages" (without any quotation marks). Results should include messages that contain at least one occurrence of each of the terms:

Search for the phrase "new Thunderbird pages". Results should include messages that contain the entire phrase:

You can combine these two types of searches. For example, search for "New Thunderbird" and "pages" returns messages that contain the phrase "new Thunderbird" and the word "pages":

Search results

Search results are displayed in a new tab. There is a panel on the left that categorizes the results, showing, for example, the number of messages containing the term(s) in conversations with specific people, or in messages stored in particular mail folders, etc.

Filtering search results

Use the Filters fields in the left panel to filter the messages returned by the original search. If you click an item under "Folder", "People" or "Account, you will be given the option to specify whether the message must (or must not) contain the item.

For example, say you were searching for "Thunderbird" AND "pages". You could refine the search results by selecting messages where you were a recipient (by clicking the To Me checkbox). Then you could further refine the results by selecting specific people and mail folders associated with the message (by clicking on the text in the left panel). (To remove selected people or mail folders from the filter criteria, click on the text again.)

Analyzing and filtering search results by date

A timeline is displayed above the messages included in the search results. The timeline shows the number of messages that match the search criteria, organized in chronological order.

Click on one of the bars or on the month, day or year labels to change the period of time that is displayed.

If you hover over one of the filter criterion in the left panel (without actually activating the filter), a darker area in the timeline bars shows when messages related to that criteria were sent / received.

Click the bar-graph icon in the top right corner to toggle the timeline display.

Message list

Click a message in the search results to view. It will open in a new tab, along with other messages that have the same Subject. Your original search will be left unchanged in the search tab, so you can go back and continue searching.

When the message list is displayed, you can use the Quick Filter fields to search within the list.

Software Update Failed Error Thunderbird

Another user is running Thunderbird

If you share your computer with other users, and another user's account is still logged in with Thunderbird running, this error can occur. Make sure you're the only user logged in to the computer when updating Thunderbird. The easiest way to do this is to restart your computer. Once the computer starts up again, start Thunderbird, click the Help menu, and select Check for Updates....

End all Thunderbird processes and restart Thunderbird

End any Thunderbird processes that may still be active, either manually or by restarting your computer.

Once all instances of Thunderbird have been ended or after the computer starts up again, restart Thunderbird to see if the updater is now working.

Ending Thunderbird processes on Windows

You can manually end the Thunderbird process using Windows Task Manager.

1. Right-click on an empty spot in the Windows task bar and select Task Manager (or press Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
2. Select the Processes tab.
3. Select the thunderbird.exe entry in the processes list, click End Process and click Yes in the "Task Manager Warning" dialog that appears.

Run Update as Administrator

If you are using Windows 7 or Vista:

1. End the Thunderbird process in Windows Task Manager as explained above, or reboot the computer so that no Thunderbird processes are active.
2. Open the Windows Start Menu, type thunderbird and right-click on the "Mozilla Thunderbird" entry that appears.
3. Select Run as Administrator and Continue if the User Account Control dialog comes up.

If the issue is not resolved, end Thunderbird again, as explained above, but this time, open the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird folder, right-click on the thunderbird or thunderbird.exe file icon and select Run as Administrator.

Thunderbird FAQ

 General Questions

What is Thunderbird?

Thunderbird is a free, open-source and cross-platform mail client for most operating systems including, but not limited to, Windows, Linux and Macintosh. It is based on the Mozilla codebase. It is a robust and easy to use client, similar to competing products like Outlook Express, but with some major advantages such as junk mail classification. Read more about the mail client at the Product Page .

 

Is Thunderbird free?

Yes! Thunderbird is open source software, meaning that anyone have the right download and use the program for free, and view and modify the source code under the terms of the license.

 

Is Thunderbird available in my language?

Possibly. Since Mozilla Thunderbird is an open-source project, contributors are constantly translating Mozilla Thunderbird into other languages. You can check if Mozilla Thunderbird is available in your language in the localized builds list, available from the download page.

 

 

Where are my mail, passwords and other personal information saved?

Thunderbird stores your personal settings in a profile folder. See the next frequently asked question for more information on how to manage the profiles.

 

How do I start the Profile Manager?

The Profile Manager is used to manage multiple profiles. To start the Profile Manager, follow the steps in the Manage Profiles How-To.

 

How do I move my profile or restore a backed up copy?

It's possible to move the location of a profile folder. This could be useful if you have a backed up profile folder somewhere on your hard drive and want to tell Thunderbird to use that as your profile.

 

Migration

How do I migrate my Mozilla mail and settings to Thunderbird?

Thunderbird includes an auto migration tool that imports your Mozilla 1.x or Netcape 7.x profile directly into Thunderbird without you having to do anything.

 

 

Can I read and send AOL e-mail using Thunderbird?

Yes, AOL users can read their AOL mail using Thunderbird. In order to do this, setup a new mail account (File > New > Account...) and select IMAP as the incoming server type and enter imap.aol.com as the address. Enter your screen name as the user name. You must also setup the outgoing (SMTP) server in order to send e-mail. To do this, select Tools > Account Settings... and then select the "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" item in the list and click Advanced.... In the Advanced Outgoing Server (SMTP) Settings window that pops up, click Add.... Enter smtp.aol.com as the Server Name, use port 587 and enter your AOL screen name as the User Name (you will be asked for the password later). Click OK and go back to the Account Settings window. Now locate your newly created mail account and select "Server Settings", click Advanced... and select the Outgoing Server (SMTP) that you created. Note that you cannot manually add messages to the Inbox or Sent Items folders. Messages will only be added to these folders when an e-mail is received or sent by the AOL IMAP server. Therefore, make sure you use local folders for Sent, Drafts and Templates. To specify this, open the Account Settings again and select the "Copies & Folders" item under the AOL account.

 

Can I access my Netscape WebMail or Hotmail accounts through Thunderbird?

No. Netscape WebMail and Hotmail use proprietary protocols. To access WebMail directly through an e-mail client requires you to use Netscape 6+ with AIM; to do so with Hotmail requires either Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. Of course, you can access your WebMail account on the Web at http://webmail.netscape.com/, or Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com/.

 

 

How do I import e-mail messages from kmail (Linux)?

Make a new folder in kmail and name it inboxmbox. You'll see a dialogue in which you can save it as an mbox folder. Copy all posts in your kmail inbox folder to the new inboxmbox folder, then copy or move inboxmbox to the subfolder Mail/Local Folders in your profile folder. When you open Thunderbird you'll see the inboxmbox folder under Local Folders. Copy the messages into your Inbox folder if you like.

 

 

How do I import e-mail messages from mail.app (MacOS X)?

Go to ~/Library/Mail/ and root out the .mbox files in the finder. These are actually OSX packages. Select Show Package Contents and a new window will open revealing several files including a file named mbox. Copy that file to the subfolder called Local Folders in the folder Mail in your profile folder and rename it to something meaningful. This process needs to be done for each of your mailboxes. Finally start Thunderbird to see the new mail folders.

 

How do I import the address book (MacOS X)?

You can use the Address Book Exporter application to export your address book to a plain text file. Then, in Thunderbird, select Tools > Import..., select Address Books, click Next and to import a text file.

 

 

How do I import e-mail messages from another mail program?

Go to Tools > Import, which will bring up a dialog to guide you through the process.

 

 

How do I export e-mail messages to another mail program or computer?

Thunderbird's mail files are in the standard plain text "mbox" format, which almost all mail programs can use or import. Many proprietary mail programs have a function to import from Eudora, which also uses the "mbox" format; this function should read your Mozilla mail files properly. Your mail files are inside your profile (see the Profile Folder), in the Mail and (if you use IMAP) ImapMail folders. Each mail folder (Inbox, Sent, etc.) is stored as two files — one with no extension (e.g. INBOX), which is the mail file itself (in "mbox" format), and one with an .msf extension (e.g. INBOX.msf), which is the index (Mail Summary File) to the mail file. Tell the other program to import mail from the file with no extension. If you want to transfer a mail file to another Mozilla profile or another installation of Mozilla, simply put the mail file into the other installation's Mail folder.

Usage

How do I customize the toolbar?

You can customize the toolbars by choosing which buttons you want to show, by adding toolbars, or by resizing the buttons. To do so, go to View > Toolbars > Customize.... A new window will pop up, containing available toolbar items. Just drag and drop them to the toolbar where you want to add them. To remove some items from the toolbar, drag them from the toolbars and drop them at the Customize window. You can even place toolbar items on the menu bar! This will allow you to place everything on one row, saving lots of screen real estate.

 

How do I make Thunderbird my default mail program?

The first time you run Thunderbird, it should ask you if you want to make it your default mail client. If you answered no and later decide you would like it to act as your default mail client:

• Windows, Mac: go to Tools > Options..., click on General and check Use Mozilla Thunderbird as the default mail application. If you still have problems with mailto: links under Windows, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel and open Internet Options. Under the Programs tab, select Mozilla Thunderbird from the drop-down list next to E-mail:.
• GNOME (Unix/Linux): Open the Control Panel. Go to Document Handlers | URL Handlers. Put mailto in the left text field, and gnome-moz-remote "%s" in the right one. Then put the following text in ~/.gnome/gnome-moz-remote (create the file if it does not exist): [Mozilla] filename=absolute path of Thunderbird install directory/mozilla
• KDE 3 (Unix/Linux): Open the Control Center and go to Network > Email. Under Preferred Email Client, enter: absolute path of Thunderbird install directory/mozilla --mail

 

How do I use the spam filters?

Mozilla Thunderbird comes with build-in spam filters, effectively moving (or removing) unwanted e-mail messages from your mail folders. There is a great article at Netscape DevEdge explaining how to fight junk mail with Netscape 7.1. This article applies to Mozilla Thunderbird too.

 

 

Is Thunderbird susceptible to e-mail viruses?

Thunderbird will not allow a virus or worm to execute automatically. You can see what attachments have been sent to you without a virus being able to execute, and you would have to save a file to your system and deliberately run it before it could cause any harm. JavaScript is switched off by default for mail and news, so an e-mail cannot run script code just by being opened. As with any mail program, take proper caution before running any file that you receive in e-mail. Appropriate anti-virus software should also help keep you safer.

 

Is there a mail notifier in Thunderbird?

Yes, the Windows version of Thunderbird includes mail notification in the system tray while Thunderbird is open.

 

How do I use S/MIME, PGP or GnuPG to send and receive signed or encrypted messages?

To use S/MIME, open Mail/News and go to Edit | Mail & Newsgroup Account Settings | account name | Security. You can set which certificates to use with each account for digital signing and/or encryption. Hooks to PGP or GnuPG are not included in Thunderbird, but are under development at Enigmail.

 

I changed my IMAP password, how do I get rid of a cached password?

In the menu, select Tools > Options..., click on Advanced, expand the Passwords section and click Manage Stored Passwords. Select the site/username line you want to delete and click Remove. When done, click Close and restart Mozilla Thunderbird.

 

How can I access/change the Master Password?

Go to Tools > Account Settings..., select any account and click on Security in the panel to the left. Click on Manage Security Devices..., select Software Security Device from the list and finally click Change Password.

Outlook Express Tutorial

Outlook Express Tutorial

 

E-mail Delivering  a three-stage process, very much like sending a letter through the local post office.

   1. You take your letter to the post office and mail it.
   2. The postal service delivers your letter to the post office at the far end.
   3. The recipient goes to the post office and picks up the letter.

How e-mail works

  

When you address an e-mail message, you use the format username@domainname.  In this format, username is the account name assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the domainname is *.com at the end. 

Both username and domainname are unique to help ensure that e-mail messages are delivered to the intended recipient. For example Tom McLaughlin has a username of tmclaughlin, and his domainname is digitalsmiles.com. His e-mail address is tmclaughlin@digitalsmiles.com.

E-mail is actually composed of two e-mail systems: the first system is used to send e-mail messages from you to another user's e-mail post office, and the second system is used by you to retrieve e-mail messages so they can be read.

Sending e-mail

The first of these two systems uses the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send e-mail from one e-mail system or post office to another. When you address an e-mail message, you use the format username@domainname.

In order to send e-mail successfully you must have the right address of the person you are e-mailing, the SMTP server at the far end must be able to find the recipient's mailbox, and be able to write to it.

If these conditions are not met your message will "bounce" (be undeliverable) and you will get some sort of an error message.

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Logging on to Outlook Express

1)   Start Outlook Express. To start Outlook Express, click on Start, then click on Programs, next click on Internet Explorer and finally click on Outlook Express.

2)    From the Outlook Express main menu, select Tools and select Accounts. You’ll see the following:

3)  Click on Add and select Mail.

4)   After entering your full name click on Next >.

5)  Type the e-mail address that will be used in all future mail messages.
    Your email address should look like this: username@domainname.com

6)  After entering your email address, click on Next >.

7)  In the next screen, you will be asked to choose the e-mail server type and supply the names of the Incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server and the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server.

Use the following settings

for example:  Mail server type: POP3
Incoming mail server: mail or pop3.provider's name.com, or .net, .org, or .edu
Outgoing mail server: mail or smtp.provider name.com, etc

Example:  mail.shaw.ca  or mail.digitalsmiles.com or mail.tomax7.com

8)  After entering all the information, click on Next >.

9)  In the next screen, you will be asked to enter your login information. In the POP3 account name field, enter your username (e.g. jsmith). In the Password field, put your account password.

NOTE: If you share your machine with other users, DO NOT enter your password here at this time. You will be asked to enter your password later when you retrieve your mail from the server.

10)  After entering the information, click on Next >.

11)  Click on Finish to save your settings.

Final Touches:

From the Outlook Express main menu, click on Tools and select Options. Select the General Tab if it is not already selected. You can tell Outlook Express to check for new mail in minutes. Select Check for new messages every __ minutes. You choose the increment.

By default, Outlook Express is set to send outgoing mail in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) format. It is better that users change this setting to Plain text since other people on the receiving end might be using a mail reader that doesn't understand HTML.

To change this setting, do the following:
From the Outlook Express main menu, click on Tools and select Options. In the options window, click on the Send tab. Check Plain Text option for Mail sending format and News sending format.

To create a Signature file, click on the Signature Tab. Select the New button and type your contact information in the text field. Make sure that the button Add signatures to all outgoing messages is selected. The signature file should not exceed 4 lines and should include information about the person (e.g. affiliation, title, address, phone, fax, etc.).

Then click on OK.

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Checking Your Email

Click on the Outlook Express Icon on your desktop. It looks like this...
 

Make sure that the Inbox folder to the left of the screen is highlighted.

If you have e-mail waiting, Outlook Express will retrieve your messages and will display the new messages in your Inbox.

Outlook Express's main window is divided into three sections.

The top section contains a list of e-mail messages in your Inbox. Your Inbox holds new messages that have been received since you last checked your e-mail plus previously read e-mail that you have not yet deleted or moved to another folder.  

The lower section of the main window displays the contents of the message that is highlighted in the top section.

The left section of the window lists the standard folders that Outlook Express sets up as a part of the configuration process.

Accessing and Displaying Messages
To read a message in your Inbox or some other mail folder, you must:
Open the folder in which the message resides, such as your Inbox. The folder list is found in the left-hand corner. 

To open a message in its own message window, double-click the message's summary in the message list. To return to the index or message list, close the message window.

There will be times when you want to view the "Headers" of a mail message. This information tells you where the e-mail you received came from. To view a mail Header, highlight the message in the top section, choose File, Properties, and Details. (Tomax7)

Updating Your Message List

To download new messages into your Inbox or to update your message list so you can see new messages, from your Inbox or any Message List window, choose the send and Receive button.

Printing Selected Messages
You can print a message from the Message window, or from the Message List window, if the message panel is open and the message you want to print is being displayed.

To print the currently displayed message, click File, then Print.

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Composing e-mail

Sending e-mail differs from replying and forwarding in a number of areas and functions. Perhaps the greatest difference is that sending, in the strictest form, involves creating original messages.

To send a new or original e-mail message, begin by clicking on the New Mail icon.

This will open the message composition window.

Enter the e-mail address of the person you wish to write in the To: field, include a Subject: and then type your message in the body of the e-mail.  Be aware that depending on the mail reader the person you are writing uses,  font type, size, bold, italics, and underscore may or may not look as you intended.

Then press Send.

Recipient Types and what they mean

To:Primary recipients of your message.
CC:Carbon Copy, for secondary recipients.
BCC: Blind Carbon Copy, for secondary recipients not identified to the other recipients. Use this when mass emailing lists or groups of people so you cause people to get 3 screens worth of scrolling down to see the actual emails!

Replying to e-mail  
  

When you reply to a previously received e-mail message, the text of the message you are replying to is included in your mail message. You can edit this message. Replying to a previously received e-mail message automatically inserts the To: address and eliminates the need to "look up" the senders address.
Reply: To reply to the author of the message by e-mail, click the Reply button on the toolbar.
Reply All: To reply to the author of the message and to all the group, click the Reply All button on the toolbar.

Forwarding e-mail

You can pass a received message to another user.  Messages that are forwarded retain their attachments.

Attachments      
Any file on the user computer or local drives can be sent as an attachment to an e-mail.  A message does not need to be plain text. An attachment can be a document (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, text etc.) or a voice message.



Multiple files can be attached with a single e-mail. How To Attach A File: Open a New Message window.
Enter the message. Click on Insert then File Attachment .

Choose the file from the dialog box:

Common format types include: .pdf, .doc, .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .html, .htm, .xl, .ppt

If possible, before sending messages with attached files, make sure that your intended recipients have the software available to read the attachments. There is no point in sending, for example, an Excel spreadsheet to a person who does not have Excel.

Opening attachments: be careful about opening attachments from someone you do not know. Viruses can be transmitted through attached files via e-mail. If you do not know who an attachment comes from consider deleting the mail without opening the attachment.

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Outlook Express folders automatically created:

Inbox - holds your incoming mail
Outbox - holds your current mail before it is sent
Sent Items - stores copies of all outgoing messages
Deleted Items - contains e-mail that has been deleted
Drafts - stores drafts of outgoing messages
Templates - Mail you have saved with a specific format that you will re-use in the future
Unsent Messages - If you turn off the Option, Send mail immediately, all your sent mail resides in this folder until you terminate your mail session

INBOX
The Inbox is intended for storing incoming e-mail messages. Old messages should not be kept in the Inbox; they should be moved to other folders or deleted once they have been read.

Deleted Items

To delete a message, select the message in the Outlook's top section and click on the Delete button. The highlighted message will now have a small mail icon with a red X through it. To purge the deleted messages, choose Edit, Purge deleted messages.

If you delete a message by mistake and have not yet purged it, open the Deleted Items folder, and then drag the message back to the Inbox or other folder.

New Folder

Messages that you would like to save should be moved into another folder; they should not be left on your Inbox. Folders may be created and used on your local PC.  E-mail messages stored in folders on your local PC are accessible only when you are using that particular PC.

To create a new e-mail folder, select File, Folder, New. This will produce the New Folder window.

Type the name of the folder you want to create (e.g. Minutes) in the upper field. You can name this folder anything you want, a project name, a persons name or topic name. Use the lower field to select the location under which the new folder should be created.

Filing Messages   

To move an e-mail message from your Inbox to another folder, select the message in the top section and then choose Edit, Move To Folder. 

This will open a list of available folders. Click the folder that you want to store the message in. The message will be deposited in the new folder and removed from your Inbox.

Messages that have been stored in other folders can be used the same way you would as if they were still in your Inbox; you can move, delete, reply-to and forward them. To switch from your Inbox to another message folder,  select the folder to be displayed on the left section.

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Adding a Card to Your Personal Address Book
From the Outlook Express toolbar, select the Address Book button.


From the Address Book window, click New, which brings up the choices New Contact, New Group, or New Folder.

In the New Contact dialog add your entry to your Address Book, click OK.

Adding a Group to Your Personal Address Book

From the Outlook Express toolbar, select the Address Book button.


From the Address Book window, click New, which brings up the choices New Contact, New Group, or New Folder.

In the New Group dialog add a Group name to your Address Book. Choose Select Members, and highlight the individuals already in your address book and send them into the right side of the window by clicking on the Select button. Press OK.

Looking Up and Using Addresses from Address Books


To lookup an e-mail address by using the Address Book, follow these steps in order:

1.
Choose the Addresses icon.

2. 
If the person you are looking for is on the list, highlight his name and select the Action icon on the toolbar, then select Send Mail.

3. Compose and Send message as usual.

To add Signature to Outgoing Messagesa)      On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Signatures tab.
b)      To create a signature, click New and then either enter text in the Edit Signature box or          click File, and then find the text or HTML file you'd like to use as your signature.
c)      Select the Add signatures to all outgoing messages check box.

 Emails Netiquette:

“Netiquette” is a term for proper etiquette on the Internet.

1) Don't assume any Internet communication is completely secure. "Never put in an e-mail message anything you would not put on a postcard". Likewise, independently verify any suspect mail, as addresses can be forged.

2) If you are replying to a message, quote only the relevant parts.

3) If you are forwarding or re-posting a message, don't change the original wording.

4) Never send chain letters, they are forbidden on the Internet.  Notify you System Administrator if you receive one.

5) Do not send abusive or heated messages (flames).  If you receive a flame, it is best to ignore it.

6) Allow time for mail to be received, and replied to, keeping in mind time differences around the world and other people's busy schedules.

7) In general it is easy to read e-mail when there are line breaks between paragraphs.

8) If you want your mail to be read, don't make it too long unless the receiver is expecting a verbose message. Over 100 lines is considered long.

9) Send messages in .txt format.  A lot of people do not use web browsers to read e-mail and your .html code may become a sort of gibberish. 

10) Use mixed case, UPPER CASE LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING.

11) The e-mail subject header should reflect the content of the message.

12) When attaching files, don't send any larger than about 50k, unless you cannot avoid it.

13) When attaching images, convert them into .jpg format.