Thunderbird : FAQs

Mail

E-mail Account Setup

• Basic e-mail account configuration (a guide for beginners)
• Use webmail, including Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, AOL, or Yahoo! Mail, with Thunderbird
• One Inbox (global Inbox) for multiple e-mail accounts
• Multiple identities (return addresses) for one e-mail account
• Multiple SMTP (outgoing mail) servers or accounts
• SMTP (outgoing mail) authentication

Sending and Receiving Mail

• Download mail for all accounts at once
• Automatically download new messages

Composing E-mails

• Add signatures to e-mails
• In replies, begin above/below the quoted message
• Use plain text (ASCII) instead of HTML/MIME
• Set the default font for outgoing messages
• Create and use Templates
• Resend messages you've already sent
• Add dictionaries, including in other languages
• Add inline spell-checking or auto-correction

Organizing and Finding Messages

• Display the Inbox (or another folder) when Thunderbird starts
• Remove duplicate messages
• Search messages other than by subject or sender
• Using the Message Filters
• Using Saved Search folders (virtual folder basics)
• Using Message Grouping

Reading and Printing Messages

• Read messages in plain text, without formatting or HTML
• Print messages without their full headers

Using the Address Book

• Sort the entries by last name
• Create and use a mailing list (without typing the addresses one at a time)
• Import an address list from a text file
• Rename the Personal Address Book and Collected Addresses
• Run Thunderbird's Address Book from the command line
• Move an address book to another profile
• Synchronize my Address Book with my Palm OS PDA
• Enter more than two email address for an address book entry

Profiles: File Locations, Migration, and Backup/Restore

Your e-mail, address book, settings, and other info are stored in your profile.

• Find your profile folder
• Descriptions of files in your profile
• Use Profile Manager (edit & switch profiles)
• Move profiles
• Move your e-mail storage location
• Combine two profiles
• Backup & Restore profiles
• Recover e-mail from a deleted account
• Move e-mail and settings to and from other programs (Mozilla, Netscape, Outlook Express, Eudora, AOL, etc.)

Newsgroups

See the Mail section, above, for info on composing, organizing and finding, and other newsgroup basics.

• Join a newsgroup
• Display full (not abbreviated) newsgroup names
• Sort newsgroups alphabetically, or in any other order

RSS

• How do I set up an RSS account and subscribe to RSS feeds?
• How can I get Thunderbird's RSS reader to use cookies?
• I cannot create an RSS account because the only options I see are for email and newsgroup accounts. Why?
• I formerly used the Forumzilla extension but now Thunderbird's built-in RSS reader doesn't work for me. What should I do?

Security

• How do I block/unblock the loading of remote images in messages?
• How do I set a master password?
• How do I reset a master password?
• How do I install/import an S/MIME certificate?
• How do I import a certificate authority (CA) certificate? What do I do if my personal certificate is not trusted by Thunderbird?
• How do I get an S/MIME certificate for secure email?

Miscellaneous

• Can I run Thunderbird from a USB drive?
• How do I minimize Thunderbird to the system tray? (Windows only)
• How can I make a desktop shortcut to launch Thunderbird with a specific profile?
• How do I change the date/time format?
• How do I upgrade to a newer version of Thunderbird?
• How do I set Thunderbird as my default mail client ?