Thunderbird email Text Box Background and Text Preference Not Changing
Hello Thunderbird At the recent automatic update of Thunderbird, key preferences that I need have been obliterated. One of these preferences is actually a critical requirement for me. I cannot read my email messages – since the update. I cannot see them now. Previously, I was able to set the text box background to black and the text to white. Now no matter what I do, I cannot change the updated Thunderbird to my preference. The received message text box is fixed. It displays a white background with black text only. The white background is a blast of glaring light that blinds me. It washes out the black text so that I cannot read the message. Please help me with this issue knowing that I have gone into Preferences and I am not able to cause a change no matter that I have set the background, text, and highlight colors that I want. Thank You. A faithful, longtime and grateful Thunderbird user.
All Replies (5)
There are several ways to do this, including addons. I am assuming you are NOT doing this with addons. For the message view pane, click tools>preferences>general , then scroll to Fonts&Colors and click the colors button. Change text and background to your preference and leave UNticked the 'use systems colors' box. Setting other panes dark can be achieved with the Dark theme setting at tools>addons. I hope this helps you in this.
As an aside, there is an addon, Dark Reader, that also addresses this issue.
I had already made the preferences selection before in an attempt to adjust my reading environment so that I could actually see my incoming emails to read them. I just did it again just as you suggensted. I did not get the change to happen to the background and text like before. Prior to an update my background had been changed to black and the text to white via use of the preferences scenario. The recent Thunderbird update took that away along with my ability to read the emails. I installed Dark Reader, but it will not change the reading box of incoming emails so I can read them either. The update really messed things up for me and I need to be able to read my emails. As an aside, I have my composing email text box set so that I can see what I am typing (black background white text), So that’s not a problem. I already had a dark theme that should make the text box dark automatically like before but it does not. Please help me so I can read my incoming emails again. I have Thunderbird 91.5.0 (64-bit). I am using it on Linux Ubuntu 20.04 like I always had been.
Let's back up a bit. Are you using the dark theme? Is the folder pane in black with white font? Same for message list pane? Do you read incoming messages in black with white font? Is it just in compose window that it is white background?
Yes, I am using a dark theme. If you mean by folder pane… The border of the windows are black background with white text I see them with no problem. This is for all the function selections, and and the entire incoming email list. However, the body of a received/incoming email, that part I need to read, is currently white background with black text (this is why I cannot see the text). In my compose window (the emails I write to people), I can see because I have it set to black background and white font. The compose email is not a problem at all it still works like before the update.
Dark Reader was updated January 5th. Do you have that version, and is Dark Reader activated? I just checked and it is working fine at doing what you want. Let me know.