Mostly we find these incessant update requests do not originate in Thunderbird. It is a new feature of some antivirus programs to prompt for software updates. I have no idea how they do that, what I do know is they are quite prone to getting in wrong.

The small number that are actually requiring an update and for some reason not getting the update actually installed are also cause mostly caused by antivirus programs. The update tries to install new files and the bumbling antivirus prevents that with it's scanning.

If you are seeing a trend in my answer you would be correct. Antivirus is probably the greatest cause of failure in Thunderbird doing it's job. It is also the application that routinely asks you to stick a great hole in your encrypted communications so it can scan.

Mostly we find these incessant update requests do not originate in Thunderbird. It is a new feature of some antivirus programs to prompt for software updates.

Thanks for your quick response. Are there any similar threads about this that might have more information? I didn't see them in my first search. I do know I could turn off automatic updates, but I would prefer not to if I can avoid it. We have another computer in the house with Thunderbird portable that doesn't have this problem.

The flash drive I store it on only has 500MB left. I wonder if that might be the cause of the problem.

If there are any particular anti-virus programs you (or anyone else) knows of that might be triggering these updates. I do have Windows Defender, Malware Bytes, and the HP machine I'm using has its own special software called HP Wolf Pro Security Protection. Do you know if any of those are the likely culprits?

If there are any particular anti-virus programs you (or anyone else) knows of that might be triggering these updates. I do have Windows Defender, Malware Bytes, and the HP machine I'm using has its own special software called HP Wolf Pro Security Protection. Do you know if any of those are the likely culprits?

I run Defender with no problems.

You could go Offline (airplane mode) and then launch Thunderbird. The problem should duplicate. Close TB. Suspend One of the anti-virus programs. Launch TB. Does the problem duplicate? Switch it back on. Close TB. And so on, one by one, through your anti-virus programs. You should find out quickly which one is the cuplrit.