How to prevent the pane "Thunderbird - Local Folders" to show on startup?
When "Local folders" is focused in the left pane, the "Thunderbird - Local Folders" pane shows on the right.
This is a PITA, since when that pane appears, I can't switch anymore between panes with my keyboard (F6 stops working; it's not clear if this is a bug or not).
My problem is that sometimes, but not always, when I open Thunderbird, "Local Folders" is focused by default, so I don't have any way to get control of Thunderbird via keyboard.
Is there any way to prevent this? I have multiple mail accounts set up, I'm not sure if this is related or not.
Chosen solution
Found a way that is convoluted and needs fixing. This took some finding :)
- Use 'Tab' key or 'Shift+Tab' to get focus in 'Global Search' box with flashing cursor
- Use 'Shift+Tab' to get brown outline on search box
- Use 'Tab' key to get focus in Global Search with flashing cursor again
- Use 'Tab' key to go back to brown outline of Global Search box
- Now you can use arrow to go up or down Folder Pane.
All Replies (4)
Usually, whatever folder you had focus on prior to exiting Thunderbird is remembered in a session file, so the next time you start up Thunderbird, this is remembered and automatically selects that folder.
Assuming it is not you selecting the 'Local Folders' mail account name or indeed any account name and putting focus in right pan, there must be something going on with the session file. Do you have any program like 'CCleaner' installed which can 'clean up' files like session files, temp files etc ? Note: some Anti-Virus products now offer this as well.
You do not want any products like CCleaner or any 'clean up' product having access to any Thunderbird profile file. So you need to make anything in the 'Thunderbird' profile exempt from scanning.
Otherwise:
I selected 'Local Folders' and then clicked in the right pane to get focus. I can see what you mean. Tabbing just goes round in circle, whilst you select the 'Local Folders' tab it does not allow escape from the roundabout.
Actually. I'm finding the same problem no matter what mail account name is selected, if focus starts in the right pane. That needs to be sorted. I'll get it reported to see if others have found same problem.
However, I found I could use the 'Alt + G' to select 'Go' on the 'Menu Bar' and use keyboard arrows to select a folder by that method.
Modified by Toad-Hall
Chosen Solution
Found a way that is convoluted and needs fixing. This took some finding :)
- Use 'Tab' key or 'Shift+Tab' to get focus in 'Global Search' box with flashing cursor
- Use 'Shift+Tab' to get brown outline on search box
- Use 'Tab' key to get focus in Global Search with flashing cursor again
- Use 'Tab' key to go back to brown outline of Global Search box
- Now you can use arrow to go up or down Folder Pane.
This is an old bug. I found it mentioned here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=278386
Hello!
Thanks for the help and involvement. I'm not on Windows, so I'm not 100% what causes the Local Folders pane to show (it doesn't always happen).
However, thanks to your proposals, I think I can now workaround the problem using Tab. Having to use F6 or Tab based on the context is far from ideal from a UX perspective (I can't only use Tab, as it goes through a pane content, making cycling confusing), but at least, now I can avoid touching the mouse :)
I'm marking this as solved (as there is a tracking bug), let me know if I should unmark it for any reason.
Thanks again!