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Unable to maintain received date sort after 'read' sort.

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  • Last reply by phsmith

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I like to sort my inboxes so that unread emails appear at the top with the newest at the top. I used to achieve this by clicking 'Received' until messages were sorted newest dates at top, then clicking the 'sort by read' icon so that unread emails appear at top. Lately, I think since the latest Thunderbird update, clicking the 'sort by read' icon reverts the 'Received' sort order to oldest at top. How can I get back the previous behaviour?

I like to sort my inboxes so that unread emails appear at the top with the newest at the top. I used to achieve this by clicking 'Received' until messages were sorted newest dates at top, then clicking the 'sort by read' icon so that unread emails appear at top. Lately, I think since the latest Thunderbird update, clicking the 'sort by read' icon reverts the 'Received' sort order to oldest at top. How can I get back the previous behaviour?

Chosen solution

The 'Received' sort toggle works as it should on its own. The problem is this: click on it twice to sort messages with the newest at the top. Then click on the 'Read' icon once, the unread messages appear at the bottom with the newest ones at the top. Now click on the 'Read' icon a second time so that the unread messages appear at the top. The messages now have the oldest unread messages at the top instead of the newest. ...Later I've now reinstalled Thunderbird and the behaviour is as I want.

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Are you saying it no longer toggles between "oldest first"/"newest first" on successive clicks of the Received button? I can't reproduce that here; it sorts and re-sorts perfectly.

Another route:

  1. make the menu visible: http://chrisramsden.vfast.co.uk/13_Menus_in_Thunderbird.html
  2. View|Sort By…

If Thunderbird "forgets" settings between sessions, then I'd ask if you are using anything like CCleaner which might be erasing certain files which store layout settings.

Modified by Zenos

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Chosen Solution

The 'Received' sort toggle works as it should on its own. The problem is this: click on it twice to sort messages with the newest at the top. Then click on the 'Read' icon once, the unread messages appear at the bottom with the newest ones at the top. Now click on the 'Read' icon a second time so that the unread messages appear at the top. The messages now have the oldest unread messages at the top instead of the newest. ...Later I've now reinstalled Thunderbird and the behaviour is as I want.