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Cannot change font color in outgoing messages

  • 3 ŋuɖoɖowo
  • 2 masɔmasɔ sia le wosi
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  • Nuɖoɖo mlɔetɔ user1121639

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After upgrading my HP Laptop from Win7 to Win10, I have lost ability to change font colors when composing outgoing emails. When I try to alter font color in the Outgoing Message toolbar from default black to red (#ff0000) and hit "ok," the text rectangle changes to red, however, as soon as I begin typing, it reverts back to black and typing continues in black. Same if I highlight some text and choose red. As soon as I hit "ok," the text color box that showed the newly-selected red color closes immediately, the double rectangle text/background indicator reverts back to black/white, losing the newly-selected red font color.

Is there some formatting being overwritten somewhere in windows? I tried changing to several High Contrast options, but the problem remains. I have the latest version of T'bird- 45.6.0. What is my problem?

After upgrading my HP Laptop from Win7 to Win10, I have lost ability to change font colors when composing outgoing emails. When I try to alter font color in the Outgoing Message toolbar from default black to red (#ff0000) and hit "ok," the text rectangle changes to red, however, as soon as I begin typing, it reverts back to black and typing continues in black. Same if I highlight some text and choose red. As soon as I hit "ok," the text color box that showed the newly-selected red color closes immediately, the double rectangle text/background indicator reverts back to black/white, losing the newly-selected red font color. Is there some formatting being overwritten somewhere in windows? I tried changing to several High Contrast options, but the problem remains. I have the latest version of T'bird- 45.6.0. What is my problem?

All Replies (3)

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When upgrading Windows to a newer version, it is not unusual for programs to not work properly.

I recommend backing up your Thunderbird Profile folder to a safe location, then uninstalling Thunderbird, rebooting, then installing Thunderbird again.

When uninstalling Thunderbird, your Profile folder will be left behind which contains all your e-mail, address books, settings, etc. So when you install Thunderbird again, it should find that Profile folder and use it again. Still, I strongly recommend backing-up that folder!

Find your Thunderbird Profile folder: Thunderbird menu: Help: Troubleshooting Information Under "Application Basics", beside "Profile Folder", click the "Show Profile" button. This will open a Windows Explorer window showing the contents of your Thunderbird Profile folder.

If you need more detailed instructions, let me know.

If the problem continues after reinstalling Thunderbird, then a new Thunderbird Profile may be in order.

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Thank you Bruce for your speedy response! I backed up the profile and did the uninstall/reboot/reinstall . Sadly, the problem hasn't been cured. At least the new installation found the old profile.

If I deleted the old profile, wouldn't I lose everything - address books, all emails and folders and settings? I can't afford to lose that much just to regain font color selection.

But is it possible to delete just the files inside the Profiles folder responsible for the defective color selector utility? And if so, would T'bird rebuild the deleted folder and files after closing and re-opening? If this is so, could you tell me which file(s) I should delete?

stringed trɔe

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The defective colour selection utility should have nothing to do with the Thunderbird Profile, but the program itself. But I could be wrong.

Something to try to test this theory: Create a new profile in Thunderbird for testing

If the new profile works bettery, then you can use it and import your stuff from the old profile.

I believe that it is more likely that the same thing will happen with a new profile. In that case, a more detailed, complicated cleanup of the computer would need to be done between uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird. It would require someone who is very knowledgeable about Windows to do it, so I would not try to give such instructions to someone who is not like that.