This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Open mail in new tab

  • 6 cavab
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by mmjoshi

more options

I am using Thunderbird Portable version 78.2.2 64 bit. i can open mails in new tabs by double clicking on them. However, Thunderbird immediately switches focus to the new tab. I find that very inconvenient. Is there any preference that can be tweaked to prevent this behavior?

mj

I am using Thunderbird Portable version 78.2.2 64 bit. i can open mails in new tabs by double clicking on them. However, Thunderbird immediately switches focus to the new tab. I find that very inconvenient. Is there any preference that can be tweaked to prevent this behavior? mj

All Replies (6)

more options

No responses! Is it a difficult problem or no one else has faced it?

more options

There is a preference that you can try, but I've detected something not correct in my version which is not a portable app version.

  • Menu app icon > Options
  • Select 'General' in left pane
  • Scroll down to bottom - it goes on forever :)
  • Click on Config Editor button
  • Accept the warning
  • In search type: mail.tabs
  • Look for this line : mail.tabs.loadInBackground
  • Double click on line to toggle the value and set as 'True'
  • close about:config window top right x

Restart Thunderbird to ensure new preference is stored correctly.

more options

Thanks. When I checked this option was already set to true. So unfortunately, this did not work. I have also noticed that if I open the mail in new tab by using the context menu, the mail opens in the background. Weird.

more options

Yes, I've noticed the preference setting seems to control the focus when using the drop down menu, but not the double click to open in new tab.

I've created a bug report to see what developers think. This is a link to it, if you want to see future comments. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1667595

more options

I've just seen the coding behind all this and this is what is set up. The default setting as true means if you right click and select open message in tab, focus does remain in thread pane. A double Middle click on mouse opens in new tab and retains focus in thread pane. (assuming user has a mouse that provides this) But a normal double click opens in tab and does have focus.

This provides the user with a symultaneous means of choosing whether to open in background or with focus without needing to swap the preference setting.

more options

Unfortunately, I do not have a middle click on my laptop mouse pad. For me double clicking and retaining the focus in the message pane is a great productivity feature. Though this behavior seems to be by design, not all laptops have middle double click.