- Mozilla Thunderbird is a free e-mail and discuss group client, available for Windows, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X operating syste,s/ Thunderbird is an Open Source application, meaning that it is both lightweight and fast, but also it offers a vast variety of features such as SPAM filters, changeable skins, displaying emoticons in messages, supporting RSS and Atom channels, grouping the messages, advanced.
- The sidebar in Google Desktop includes a news widget that learns from the articles you read and a feed reader widget that learns from the websites you visit.
- Although Thunderbird will run on Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or above, the latest installers for Thunderbird require Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or Windows Vista with update KB2763674. To work around this issue, a two-step process is necessary to install the latest version of Thunderbird.
From MozillaZine Knowledge Base
This article describes how to go back to an old version of Thunderbird, including how to deal with problems that may occur due to changes to your profile. Whatever version of Thunderbird you re-install, it will automatically find and reuse your profile (it contains your mail, address books, settings, saved passwords, add-ons etc.), which is not deleted when you uninstall or reinstall Thunderbird.
Its also possible to keep the current version, and do a custom installation of a older version in a different directory to see if your problem is due to the latest version of Thunderbird or not. If you set extensions.strictCompatibility false using the config editor to let you install add-ons that don't explicitly state they support version 60 or later that value may get reset to its default value (true). You will need to set it false again when you run the current version of Thunderbird. If you try a really old version its possible you might have the same problems with the settings (mainly gfx.direct2d.disabled and layers.acceleration.disabled) to enable graphics acceleration. Those are the only two sets of settings that you need to worry about being reset due to the default value changing for a different version. If its a frequent problem you could set them in the optional user.js file. Any settings set by that file override the default values and whatever is set using the config editor and/or prefs.js.
The second generation Athlon, the Thunderbird, debuted in 2000. AMD released the Athlon XP the following year, and the Athlon XP's immediate successor, the Athlon 64, was an AMD64-architecture microprocessor released in 2003.
See this article if you want to go back to an old version of Firefox.
Before you do anything turn off the automatic Software Update feature in Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Update.
Starting with version 35.1.0 you can not install Thunderbird if you are using XP SP2 (rather than SP3) or are using a version of Vista that does not have the KB2763674 patch due to new signing. The workaround is to install version 38.5.0 and then upgrade. However, that does not let you choose a specific version. [1][2]
Contents |
Go back to a recent release
(3.1.* or later) Except for a backend extension in TB 12.0 (see the note below), all changes in 3.1.* and later versions affect just add-ons and the optional useChrome.css file. This makes it easy to reuse the same profile with an older version.
- Download the version you want from either here or here by clicking on the link for the setup program you want, and then pressing 'Save File' in the pop-up.
Mozilla uses win32, mac and Linux-686 directories to store files for Microsoft Windows , Mac OS X, and Linux respectively. The af, be, bg ca .. etc. directories are locale codes. They specify the language plus what country/region any customizations are for. en-US is the USA version of English, en-GB the British version of English, de is German and nl is Dutch for example.
For example if you want the US English version of Thunderbird 45.8.0 for Windows chose the 45.8.0 directory, then the win32 directory, the en-US directory, and finally the 'Thunderbird Setup 45.8.0.exe' file. Its directory is here. Some very old versions also have a file with a .asc file extension in that directory, that is a PGP signature that can be used to prove the authenticity of the setup program.
- Uninstalling doesn't delete your profile, but you should back it up first as a precaution using something like MozBackup. Mozbackup is no longer maintained. It still works for most users, but test it before you rely upon it. Mozbackup 1.5.2 Beta 1 is safer to use than 1.5.1.
- Exit Thunderbird and then uninstall it.
- Install the older version in the same location to minimize any side effects. For example, the Windows registry may expect the default email client to be in that location.
- If you have a firewall you might need to reconfigure it for the new executable.
- If Thunderbird disables any of your add-ons you may need to replace them with a version that supports a older version of Thunderbird. Most add-ons at Mozilla Add-ons have a Version Information section at the bottom of the web page. Click on the version you want and it will jump to a download page for it. Lightning for example tends to be very version dependent.
- If you created a optional userChrome.css file you might have to modify it to deal with different window layout/tree structures.
If you couldn't figure out the right locale go to the download page for the fully localized version of the latest version of Thunderbird, hover the mouse over the download link for your locale and see what lang= is set to. That is the locale code.
- Note: Running TB 12 with local mail folders and pop3 mail filters may produce summary files that aren't correctly read by previous versions of Thunderbird. If you decide to go back to a previous version of Thunderbird after running TB 12, you should right-click on each of your local folders and pop3 accounts, then select 'Properties' and click the 'Repair Folder' button, one by-one for each folder to avoid potential data loss.
From 3.x to 2.0.0.24
Follow the directions in the prior section to download a setup program for 2.0.0.24, but don't install it yet.
- Thunderbird 3 stores the passwords in a different file. The old file isn't deleted when you upgrade so if you haven't changed your password after upgrading it isn't an issue. Otherwise write down your passwords from Tools -> Options -> Security -> Passwords -> Saved Passwords if you can't remember them.
- Exit Thunderbird and back up your profile using something like MozBackup.
- There are several directories/files you may want to delete from your profile
- If Global search/indexing was enabled delete globl-message-db.sqlite
- If you're using OSX delete the .mozmsgs subdirectory. It contains *.mozeml files used by Spotlight Integration
- If you're using Vista or Windows 7 (and Windows Search is enabled) delete the .mozmsg directories. It contains *.wdseml files created by Windows Search Integration
- If you have a IMAP account and Message Synchronizing was enabled you have copies of all of your messages stored as mbox files. Unless you want to use them as offline folders the simplest way to get rid of them is to delete the entire contents of the ..ImapMail directory. This will also get rid of the *.msf (index) files but Thunderbird will re-create them by downloading the headers again.
- Uninstall Thunderbird.
- Install 2.0.0.24 using the setup program you downlaoded.
- Your toolbar will have changed if you had selected the new toolbar in the Migration Assistant. You can customize it again by right clicking on the toolbar, selecting Customize, drag and drop a button to the toolbar, and then press Done. You may have to do this in several steps if you add multiple buttons, not every version supported dragging and dropping more than one button.
- If you ever selected Unified Folders (originally called Smart Folders) in 3.x you may have a pseudo Unified Folders (or Smart Folders) account listed in the folder pane. This will gradually corrupt your folder listings forcing you to periodically rebuild the index. You can't get rid of it by deleting an account. If you don't have it, you don't have to do anything. Otherwise:
- Exit Thunderbird and back up prefs.js
- Search for Unified folders in prefs.js and find what server id it uses. In this example it's using server4 due to user_pref('mail.server.server4.name', 'Unified Folders');
- Find its account id. In this example, it's account4 due to user_pref('mail.account.account4.server', 'server4');
- Find mail.accountmanager.accounts and remove that account from it. For example, change user_pref('mail.accountmanager.accounts', 'account1,account2,account4'); to user_pref('mail.accountmanager.accounts', 'account1,account2');
- Delete all of the settings for the smart folder's server and for the setting that assigns the server to an account. Otherwise Thunderbird will add the smart folders account back. In this example, you'd delete all of the mail.server.server4 settings and user_pref('mail.account.account4.server', 'server4');.
- You're done. If you decide to upgrade to 3.x later on make certain you back up your profile first in case you change your mind.
See also
External links
See this article if you want to go back to an old version of Firefox.
Before you do anything turn off the automatic Software Update feature in Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Update.
Starting with version 35.1.0 you can not install Thunderbird if you are using XP SP2 (rather than SP3) or are using a version of Vista that does not have the KB2763674 patch due to new signing. The workaround is to install version 38.5.0 and then upgrade. However, that does not let you choose a specific version. [1][2]
Contents |
Go back to a recent release
(3.1.* or later) Except for a backend extension in TB 12.0 (see the note below), all changes in 3.1.* and later versions affect just add-ons and the optional useChrome.css file. This makes it easy to reuse the same profile with an older version.
- Download the version you want from either here or here by clicking on the link for the setup program you want, and then pressing 'Save File' in the pop-up.
Mozilla uses win32, mac and Linux-686 directories to store files for Microsoft Windows , Mac OS X, and Linux respectively. The af, be, bg ca .. etc. directories are locale codes. They specify the language plus what country/region any customizations are for. en-US is the USA version of English, en-GB the British version of English, de is German and nl is Dutch for example.
For example if you want the US English version of Thunderbird 45.8.0 for Windows chose the 45.8.0 directory, then the win32 directory, the en-US directory, and finally the 'Thunderbird Setup 45.8.0.exe' file. Its directory is here. Some very old versions also have a file with a .asc file extension in that directory, that is a PGP signature that can be used to prove the authenticity of the setup program.
- Uninstalling doesn't delete your profile, but you should back it up first as a precaution using something like MozBackup. Mozbackup is no longer maintained. It still works for most users, but test it before you rely upon it. Mozbackup 1.5.2 Beta 1 is safer to use than 1.5.1.
- Exit Thunderbird and then uninstall it.
- Install the older version in the same location to minimize any side effects. For example, the Windows registry may expect the default email client to be in that location.
- If you have a firewall you might need to reconfigure it for the new executable.
- If Thunderbird disables any of your add-ons you may need to replace them with a version that supports a older version of Thunderbird. Most add-ons at Mozilla Add-ons have a Version Information section at the bottom of the web page. Click on the version you want and it will jump to a download page for it. Lightning for example tends to be very version dependent.
- If you created a optional userChrome.css file you might have to modify it to deal with different window layout/tree structures.
If you couldn't figure out the right locale go to the download page for the fully localized version of the latest version of Thunderbird, hover the mouse over the download link for your locale and see what lang= is set to. That is the locale code.
- Note: Running TB 12 with local mail folders and pop3 mail filters may produce summary files that aren't correctly read by previous versions of Thunderbird. If you decide to go back to a previous version of Thunderbird after running TB 12, you should right-click on each of your local folders and pop3 accounts, then select 'Properties' and click the 'Repair Folder' button, one by-one for each folder to avoid potential data loss.
From 3.x to 2.0.0.24
Follow the directions in the prior section to download a setup program for 2.0.0.24, but don't install it yet.
- Thunderbird 3 stores the passwords in a different file. The old file isn't deleted when you upgrade so if you haven't changed your password after upgrading it isn't an issue. Otherwise write down your passwords from Tools -> Options -> Security -> Passwords -> Saved Passwords if you can't remember them.
- Exit Thunderbird and back up your profile using something like MozBackup.
- There are several directories/files you may want to delete from your profile
- If Global search/indexing was enabled delete globl-message-db.sqlite
- If you're using OSX delete the .mozmsgs subdirectory. It contains *.mozeml files used by Spotlight Integration
- If you're using Vista or Windows 7 (and Windows Search is enabled) delete the .mozmsg directories. It contains *.wdseml files created by Windows Search Integration
- If you have a IMAP account and Message Synchronizing was enabled you have copies of all of your messages stored as mbox files. Unless you want to use them as offline folders the simplest way to get rid of them is to delete the entire contents of the ..ImapMail directory. This will also get rid of the *.msf (index) files but Thunderbird will re-create them by downloading the headers again.
- Uninstall Thunderbird.
- Install 2.0.0.24 using the setup program you downlaoded.
- Your toolbar will have changed if you had selected the new toolbar in the Migration Assistant. You can customize it again by right clicking on the toolbar, selecting Customize, drag and drop a button to the toolbar, and then press Done. You may have to do this in several steps if you add multiple buttons, not every version supported dragging and dropping more than one button.
- If you ever selected Unified Folders (originally called Smart Folders) in 3.x you may have a pseudo Unified Folders (or Smart Folders) account listed in the folder pane. This will gradually corrupt your folder listings forcing you to periodically rebuild the index. You can't get rid of it by deleting an account. If you don't have it, you don't have to do anything. Otherwise:
- Exit Thunderbird and back up prefs.js
- Search for Unified folders in prefs.js and find what server id it uses. In this example it's using server4 due to user_pref('mail.server.server4.name', 'Unified Folders');
- Find its account id. In this example, it's account4 due to user_pref('mail.account.account4.server', 'server4');
- Find mail.accountmanager.accounts and remove that account from it. For example, change user_pref('mail.accountmanager.accounts', 'account1,account2,account4'); to user_pref('mail.accountmanager.accounts', 'account1,account2');
- Delete all of the settings for the smart folder's server and for the setting that assigns the server to an account. Otherwise Thunderbird will add the smart folders account back. In this example, you'd delete all of the mail.server.server4 settings and user_pref('mail.account.account4.server', 'server4');.
- You're done. If you decide to upgrade to 3.x later on make certain you back up your profile first in case you change your mind.
See also
External links
Thunderbird Xp Price
- Getting your calendar back Mozillazine forum thread.
- Rumbling Edge (tracks Thunderbird bug fixes)
- Mozilla wiki page that tracks recent and in-progress releases
- If you can't download the older version from a Mozilla web site for some reason, try Old Apps.
Thunderbird 60, the release version following 52, does not support Windows XP or Vista. Thunderbird 52 is the last version that supports Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Microsoft itself ended support for Windows XP in 2014 and ended support for Windows Vista in 2017. Unsupported operating systems receive no security updates, have known exploits, and can be dangerous to use, which makes it difficult to maintain Thunderbird for those versions.
Thunderbird Xpcom
To get the latest features and updates, you will need to upgrade your computer's operating system:
Thunderbird Xp Specs
- Upgrade to a version of Windows that Microsoft still supports, such as Windows 7, 8 or 10. Learn more here.
- (Advanced): Switch to a Linux-based operating system. Please see the support websites for the version of Linux that you're interested in.
