Working with the Mozilla Thunderbird email client. Mozilla Thunderbird: Complete User Guide

Mozilla Thunderbird is one of the best email clients today, second only to The Bat! (only because it is not possible to make a normal backup, but in other respects it is even better and more functional). Another advantage of this email program is that it is cross-platform.

In order to start setting up Mozilla Thunderbird, you need to have an already registered mailbox on one of the mail servers (gmail, Yandex mail, mail.ru, etc.). We launch the email client and the message Email will appear on the main screen. Click on it and in the window that opens, select the button Skip this and use my existing email; if you don’t have one, the program will offer to create it.

So, let's start setting up an email client to receive email. To do this, enter the data from your account on one of the e-mail servers in the window. In my case it will be mail.ru. You will also be prompted to create a new one. Enter all the required data and click Continue. In the next settings window you will be asked to select an IMAP or POP3 server, your choice will depend on your desires. Those. if you need security, you will choose IMAP; if security requirements are minimal, then choose POP3. Having selected the server, you can click Finish and start using the mail client. The program will enter all server settings automatically. If you know the more subtle settings of your server, click the Manual Configuration button. A window will open with more detailed settings for the incoming and outgoing mail server. To find out the ports or what authentication is on your server, in my case mail.ru, go to the website and in the Help section select the desired server: either IMAP or POP3. Because the Mozilla Thunderbird email program goes to the Internet and checks the settings, then they will be correct. After you have carried out a number of manipulations with the settings, you can click the Test button, after which a test will be carried out to see if your settings are working properly, if everything is entered correctly, then the email the client will receive all the mail from your account and download it to your PC, if not, it will give an error. If everything went without errors, click the Finish button and see what mail the client received. Would you like to make more detailed settings? To do this, right-click on Local Folders and select Options.

A window with detailed account settings will open. You can change your account name. Here you can change:

That's all the settings for the Mozilla Thunderbird email client. The article made sure that there is a wide variety of email client settings. You can also create not just one mailbox, but several, thereby optimizing viewing mail from different mail servers in one program.

Almost all Internet users use email accounts. This email technology allows you to instantly send and receive letters. For comfortable use of this system, the Mozilla Thunderbird program was created. For it to work fully, it needs to be configured.

You can download Thunderbird from the official website by following the above link and clicking “Download”. Open the downloaded file and follow the installation instructions.

After the program is completely installed, open it.

How to configure Thunderbird using IMAP protocol

First, you need to configure Thunderbird using the IMAP protocol. Launch the program and click create an account - “Email”.

A window opens and we indicate the name, for example, Ivan Ivanov. Next, enter your current email address and password. Click “Continue”.

Select “Configure manually” and enter the following parameters:

For incoming mail:

Protocol - IMAP;
Server name - imap.yandex.ru;
Port - 993;
SSL - SSL/TLS;
Authentication - Normal.

For outgoing mail:

Server name - smtp.yandex.ru;
Port - 465;
SSL - SSL/TLS;
Authentication - Normal.

Here it is important to indicate the part before the “@” sign since the setting occurs from the sample box “ [email protected]" If you use Yandex. Mail for domain", then the full email address is indicated in this field.

And click “Retest” - “Done”.

Synchronizing your account with the server

To do this, right-click and open “Options”.

In the “Server Settings” section, in the “When deleting a message” item, check the value “Move it to the folder” - “Trash”.

In the “Copies and Folders” section, enter the mailbox value for all folders. Click “Ok” and restart the program. This is necessary to apply the changes.

So we learned how to configure Thunderbird. This is very easy to do. This setting is necessary to send and receive emails.

Mail clients allow you to save a lot of time on checking mail. However, it is not always clear how to use them. Let's look at the example of Mozilla Thunderbird (hereinafter referred to as MT) through all the stages of installation and configuration in order.

First, you need to download the installation package from the official project page. We choose the assembly that suits you - they differ not only in languages, in addition, each OS has its own version. Let's assume that the Russian language is what you need and your OS is Windows (absolutely any, the site will automatically select the right package for you). Click and start downloading.

Attention! If you have already installed this email client, it is strongly recommended to uninstall it.

Run the downloaded *.exe file and click next. You can choose to install the MT in a standard configuration (checkbox opposite “Normal”) or in a custom configuration. The second installation method should be chosen if the standard path “c:\program files\mozilla thunderbird\” does not suit you for some reason. Click next.

The installation completes almost instantly, now launch the client. Let's move on to the next point.

2. Setting up MT

When you launch it for the first time, the system integration window pops up. It suggests using MT by default as an email client, newsgroup client, etc. What’s convenient is that you can immediately configure Windows search so that it can search for messages. Choose whatever suits your needs. To prevent this window from bothering you every time you start, uncheck the corresponding box. Click “Ok” and move on.

An account setup window immediately pops up. If you already have an Email, you should not create a new one. Click on "Skip this and use my existing email."

In this window, enter all the necessary information. The name can be anything, and the password and address are exactly the same as what you specified when registering with the mail service (google, rambler, yandex, mail.ru, etc.).

The setup occurs automatically in most cases. Once completed, you are asked to choose between IMAP and POP3. Here, again, whatever is more convenient for you. If Internet access is stable, choose the first; if not, choose the second. Click done if the automatic setup was successful.

If not, resort to manual configuration. All the necessary data can usually be found on the website that provides email services. When finished, click done.

If you have several mailboxes, you can combine them - just click on “Create a new account” and do the above steps. Nothing complicated.

If everything went well, the client window will look something like this:

3. Additional settings

You can customize MT for yourself by clicking on “View settings for this account.” They are quite flexible; there is a frequency for checking new messages and ways to store them. You can also include a signature and edit the response form.

The anti-spam filter is already turned on by default, most annoying advertising campaigns will bypass you, but sometimes it’s worth checking the “Spam” tab - no system can be perfect. From time to time, spam filters fail, “burning” messages that are needed.

3.1. Functionality check

To check the client’s functionality, click on the “Inbox” tab, if there are any (even if the account is new, services usually send welcome messages). If there are no messages, you can try sending a letter to yourself. There is a “Create” tab in the upper left corner, feel free to click it.

In the “Create message: %name%” window, fill in the fields as follows:

To: your address
Topic: any, for example - test.
In the field for entering the text of the letter, type whatever comes to mind. Let's say "one two three."
Click the "Submit" button in the upper left corner.
If a notification window about a new received message () pops up, you have successfully configured your email client; if not, try repeating all the steps, but this time be more careful.

4. Possible problems. Their decision.

Problems usually arise if the user installs all sorts of themes and add-ons for the email client. It may slow down very much or not start at all. Then you should “throw away” the recently downloaded updates and try to find a more stable alternative to them.

Another common problem is an error when starting the program. In this case, reinstalling or rebooting does not help - all efforts seem to be in vain. There is a way out, and it’s quite simple. Find the profiles.ini file in the root of the installed client, right-click on it, run it through some text editor, for example Notepad, then press Ctrl+f, find the line “Default=1” and delete it. Save the file and close. The letters and profile will remain in place, and the program will start again. If it doesn’t help, delete the file, but then you’ll have to create a new account.

It happens that after an update the program stops working correctly - in this case a simple reinstallation will help.

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Modern email clients, which are used by the vast majority of business people who are trying not to waste their time, help save valuable time on checking their mailbox. Despite its apparent simplicity, not all Thunderbird users know how to change a password, set up an account, or use autoreply. In the article below we will look step by step at all the steps and settings necessary for installation.

Working in an email client is not much different from an Internet browser

Installing the Thunderbird email client on your computer

In order not to subsequently have to worry about deleting many additional advertising sites and virus applications, the user must first download the program installer package from the official website of the developer. Before the installer starts downloading, the user needs to select exactly the version of the program that will be optimal for him. The fact is that the site contains several assemblies created directly for a specific OS and language. The user can specify in preferences, for example, Russian language and Windows OS, after which the site will automatically offer the most suitable package for download.

Please note that for those who have previously used the Thunderbird application, it is advisable to remove the old version from the PC before installing a new program.

After launching the downloaded file with the *.exe extension, you should select from the list provided to install a standard package (the checkbox is located next to the “Regular” item) or a custom one. The folder path should be changed if the method offered by the application somehow does not suit the potential user. During a normal installation, the program will be located at “c:\program files\mozilla thunderbird\”.

After waiting for a second, the program will install, and after it starts, you can proceed further.

Setting up an email client

When you turn on the application for the first time, an integration window with the operating system should appear on the screen. The user will be asked to use Thunderbird by default; the program will display not only new incoming letters, but also news. Along with other advantages, a specific application allows you to configure the search in the OS so that the mail intermediary can easily and quickly find the desired message. A window asking you to use Thunderbird by default can regularly bother a PC owner. Therefore, to forget about it, you can uncheck a certain checkbox during startup.

The next steps are to set up your account correctly. In the case when the user has a personal E-mail, there is no need to create a new mailbox. Therefore, in the proposed menu, you should select the “Use my existing mail” section.

Next, indicate all the data that is needed to log in to the mail, and you can specify any name, but the password and address must exactly match the data registered on mail services (google, yandex, mail.ru).

Setting up an account in Thunderbird is quite simple, it only takes a few minutes, and as a result the user must choose between two mail servers responsible for receiving IMAP and POP3 mail. The choice must be based on access to the network: if the Internet signal reception is stable, it is better to prefer the first point, otherwise - the second.

During normal automatic installation, you can click on the “Finish” button, or use manual setup. The missing information can be found on the official website, which offers users email services.

Among other things, using Thunderbird you can combine data from several mailboxes by using the “Create a new account” command and repeating the previously described manipulations.

Thunderbird Specific Settings

The email client is convenient and multifunctional; the user can easily configure Thunderbird according to his personal preferences, for which he should select the “View your account settings” option. This category allows you to specify the frequency with which incoming messages will be checked, as well as how they are stored. The user can customize a personal signature and make the auto-response form more convenient.

Thunderbird has a high-quality anti-spam filter that functions in the application without any additional connection. Along with regular messages from various advertising campaigns, the program, due to its imperfections, can sometimes “hide” the necessary correspondence from the user. Therefore, the user will have to periodically look at the “Spam” section to make sure that there is nothing fundamentally necessary there.

Change Password

To change the password in Mozilla Thunderbird, you need to go to the “Tools” category in the main application menu, and select “Settings” among other commands. In the dialog box that appears on the PC screen, go to the “Protection” subcategory and select “Passwords” from the drop-down list to view all saved values stored in the device’s memory.

To change the password in Thunderbird, the user will first have to delete all previously saved ones. After closing and loading the application, a new password is entered in the dialog box that opens, which will subsequently be saved in the general storage of all passwords.

After the first letter is created, the user will have to enter the same password again, which will allow him to log into the SMTP server. By the way, you should not forget that you need to check the box next to the “Save password” command.

Auto reply

Quite often, a Thunderbird user has a huge team of employees and business partners, and it is not physically possible to call them to notify them of going on another vacation. Among other tools, Mozilla Thunderbird has a feature that allows you to configure auto-reply.

In order for everyone who sends letters to receive an auto-reply, you must first write a new message, in the subject of which you must indicate the reason why the person is receiving this message. For example, “I’m going to go on vacation for ... days from ... to ....” There is no need to indicate a specific recipient. After saving such a message, you must select the “Template” section in the list that opens, and in the “Tools” category - the “Message Filters...” subsection, click on the “Create” command and write the name of the new filter. Opposite the “All messages” section there should be a checkmark, and in the “Perform specific actions” command you should point to “Template reply”.

After all the manipulations performed, an auto-response will be sent to all clients and, if, as a result of the procedure performed, you do not forget to indicate a certain type of template.

Conclusion

Thunderbird is a powerful email client that gives the user the ability to customize their email in a way that suits them best. The user can easily change passwords, create or delete an account, and use automatic replies.

The Mozilla Thunderbird email program makes working with correspondence and newsgroups much easier if you configure it correctly. The procedure is simple and will not take much time from the user, but will help optimize the workflow in the future. From this instruction you will learn how to customize Mozilla Thunderbird as efficiently as possible in order to use the full potential of this tool.

What is a Mozilla Thunderbird profile

Profile – information that is generated during the operation of the mail client, but does not relate to the executable files of the program:

local mail and copies of Email messages (depending on settings);
custom settings (themes, toolbars, etc.).

By default, Mozilla Thunderbird creates a profile called default immediately after installation. It will also be used by the program in the future, unless you specifically create a new one using the Profile Manager.

Where is it stored

When creating a profile, a name like xxx.yyy is assigned, where xxx is 8 numbers randomly generated by the program, and yyy is its display name. The location of profile files differs in different OS versions. To quickly find a profile,

You should click on the main menu button of the program and follow the path “Help” - “Information for solving problems”. Opposite the “Profile Folder” item there is a “Open Folder” button. By clicking on it, you will be taken to the target directory, where you will see the required files.

Profile backup and restore

To create a backup of Mozilla Thunderbird profile files, you should follow a simple algorithm:

close the program;
open the directory with profile files using the method indicated above;
go to a higher level and copy the profile folder named xxx.yyy;
save the directory to the target location on disk.

You can store a backup copy both on your computer’s hard drive and external media – optical disks, flash drives, file sharing services and cloud servers.

To restore a Mozilla Thunderbird profile, simply copy the folder to the target directory and replace the files. If the procedure is carried out after reinstalling the OS and the default profile is given a different name after reinstalling the program, you should not copy the folder, but only the files contained in it.

Mozilla Thunderbird Account

During the Mozilla Thunderbird setup process, most settings are set automatically. Manual settings are required only in cases where the Email provider is not included in the program’s automatic configuration databases or if non-standard email account parameters are used.

Automatic settings

All that is required from the user in this case is an email address, an account password and a username. All other parameters - security protocols, domain names and used ports - will be downloaded by Mozilla Thunderbird from the server from the configuration database.

The configuration proposal is issued by the program during the first launch after its installation. If the user skipped this step for any reason, Mozilla Thunderbird mail settings can be called up at any time through the main menu (“Create” - “Get new mail record”).

In the dialog box that appears, Mozilla Thunderbird will prompt you to create a new mailbox. You can refuse this by clicking the appropriate button.

In the next window, you must fill in the fields provided and click the “Continue” button.

All that remains to be done is to select the appropriate protocol (IMAP or POP3) and click the “Finish” button.

The program will redirect the request to the mail server (in this particular case, we show how to set up Mozilla Thunderbird for Gmail), where you should log in and give it access to your account.

If the correct data is entered and everything is done correctly, the email client will connect to your account and download all correspondence.

Note! In the case of Gmail, letters and notifications are not sorted by category (Social Networks and Promotions), as when entering the mailbox through a browser. In Mozilla Thunderbird they are presented in the form of a list, which is not always convenient to use.

Changing the account protocol

Another aspect that you should know about how to set up Mozilla Thunderbird mail concerns the transition of an account from POP3 to IMAP. POP3, as an older protocol, is no longer used almost anywhere, and all major email providers have long ago switched their servers to IMAP.

If your provider does not support IMAP, but you want to take advantage of all the benefits of this protocol, it is recommended to change your service provider by setting up correspondence forwarding from the old mailbox to the new one.

It is enough to create a new IMAP account, moving all the necessary correspondence from the old one:

Disable POP3 account. Right-click on the account name in the right part of the window and select “Options” - “Server Settings”. Here you need to uncheck the “Check for new messages every XX minutes” and “Check mail on startup” checkboxes.
Create a new account using the method described above;
Drag the necessary letters from the POP3 account to IMAP to upload them to the server;
Delete an old entry - click on the “Actions” button in the parameters window and select the appropriate item.

Themes and design

In Mozilla Thunderbird, themes are presented as separate themes that must be downloaded from the Internet. This can be done without visiting third-party resources right in the program window. To do this, click on the “Add-ons” item in the main window.

Scroll down the contents of the “Get Add-ons” tab and opposite the “Favorite Topics” item, click on the “Show All” link.”

Having found a suitable theme, click on its name and on the next page click the “Add to Thunderbird” button. Don't forget to also click the "Allow" button in the pop-up window.

The downloaded theme is applied automatically. If you have downloaded several themes, to switch between them you need to go to the “Appearance” tab of the add-on control menu and click the “Enable” button next to the name of the theme you want to apply.

In the same menu, you can remove Mozilla Thunderbird themes that you no longer like.

Sorting letters

In Mozilla Thunderbird, you can install one or more filters to automate actions with received or sent correspondence. Filters work in the order in which they are located in the user's list. To create a new filter, go to the main menu of the program and select “Message Filters”. In the window that opens, you need to select the account to which the filter will be applied and click the “Create” button.

The filter settings menu will open. All key filtering parameters are set by selecting the appropriate option from the drop-down list.

Using this tool, for example, you can filter out spam by a specific word in the body of a letter or set up saving correspondence from a specific counterparty in a separate folder.

How to auto-reply in Mozilla Thunderbird

This feature will be needed if you are on vacation or absent for several days. You can configure it using a simple algorithm:

Create a new message by pressing Ctrl+N
Indicate in the body of the letter “Absent from… to…”. There is no need to specify a recipient.
In the message creation window menu, select “File” - “Save As” - “Template” and close the current window.
Create a new filter using the method described above.
In the filter parameters, move the switch to the “Without any conditions” position and assign the action “Reply using a template”.
Confirm the changes by clicking the "OK" button.

Setting up an autoresponder in this way is easier and faster than setting parameters for each connected mailbox. The main thing is to remember to turn off or remove the filter when you return from vacation.

In Mozilla Thunderbird, the Mail setting allows you to configure a template response not only for all incoming letters, but also, for example, for specific counterparties or by keywords.

Protection and anti-spam

Setting up filtering for unwanted or fraudulent mail in this program is much easier than filters. To do this, go to the “Settings” item through the main menu.

The following actions are available in the “Protection” tab:

For antispam. Delete or move spam to the appropriate folder, mark as read. An adaptive learning filter is provided that sorts subsequent correspondence based on user actions.
For fraudulent emails. Inform if an incoming message is suspicious.
For antivirus. Allow antivirus software to quarantine suspicious attachments.
For passwords. Remember passwords for all accounts and set a master password.

Sound settings

Sound notification settings can be found through the main menu in the settings in the “General” tab. To signal the receipt of mail, you can use both standard accompaniment from the operating system sound circuit and an audio file that is stored on the computer’s hard drive. If the function is not needed, it can be disabled by unchecking the corresponding box.

Setting up template responses

In email correspondence, it is considered good form to include all contact information at the end of the letter so that the recipient can contact the sender in any convenient way. In order not to enter this data manually each time or copy it from a text file, you can create a ready-made template on the basis of which to generate new outgoing messages.

The first step is to make the signature itself. To do this, create a new message using the Ctrl+N key combination and type (or copy) contact information. Then, in the message creation window, select “File” - “Save As” - “File”, select a storage location on your computer and set a name.

Then in your account settings you need to find the “Insert signature from file” option, check the box and set the path to the saved file.

The signature text can also be placed in the appropriate field in the account settings. In addition, you can attach a business card - for example, an image, animation or short video.

Configuring server settings

To edit these values, you need to right-click on the account name, select Settings and in the window that opens, go to the “Server Settings” tab.

Here it is recommended to adjust the mail checking interval and actions with deleted letters, but do not change the key parameters of the program - the port used, security and authentication methods, since incorrect settings may cause problems with Mozilla Thunderbird.

Export Mozilla Thunderbird and account settings

Since the program is cross-platform, all working data can be moved between different operating systems - for example, Windows and Linux in any direction. The account also belongs to this data, therefore it is stored in the same place as all other profile files (where exactly, see above). Exporting a Mozilla Thunderbird account is similar to transferring settings: just copy these files to the target computer. You can use not only physical drives, but also move them through remote access - for example, using Team Viewer or Radmin.

Program settings for different email services

The parameters required to work correctly with Gmail are shown in the example above. Conveniently, setting up Mozilla Thunderbird for Mail ru or Yandex is no different: these popular providers have been using the IMAP protocol for a long time, so the configuration is loaded by the application automatically.