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Thunderbird composition font=Medium, but displays tiny in composition window

southwest_flyer
southwest_flyer
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This problem appeared with TB 52.2.1--was OK before. As a test, I reinstalled TB 45, and the problem remained. I have now returned to TB 52 to stay current. 

I have set Options-Composition-General-HTML-Font=Variable width, Size=Medium.

When I open a Write (or Reply) window, the Format Size=Medium, and the AA button=Medium, but the actual characters in the composition window are extremely tiny. If I execute 5 Ctrl+ entries, the displayed characters grow to a reasonable size, about size 14.

If I send a mail from this configuration, the received mail displays at a good size in both AOL Mail and Thunderbird.

If I cancel the Ctrl+ entries, and return to the original tiny characters, I can achieve the same enlarged sizes with Format Size=Extra Large or Huge. However, if I send mail from the Extra Large or Huge configurations, the received mail displays absurdly too large.

Something seems to have gone wrong, apparently at version 52. Hopefully, someone can help. Thank you.

This problem appeared with TB 52.2.1--was OK before. As a test, I reinstalled TB 45, and the problem remained. I have now returned to TB 52 to stay current. I have set Options-Composition-General-HTML-Font=Variable width, Size=Medium. When I open a Write (or Reply) window, the Format Size=Medium, and the AA button=Medium, but the actual characters in the composition window are extremely tiny. If I execute 5 Ctrl+ entries, the displayed characters grow to a reasonable size, about size 14. If I send a mail from this configuration, the received mail displays at a good size in both AOL Mail and Thunderbird. If I cancel the Ctrl+ entries, and return to the original tiny characters, I can achieve the same enlarged sizes with Format Size=Extra Large or Huge. However, if I send mail from the Extra Large or Huge configurations, the received mail displays absurdly too large. Something seems to have gone wrong, apparently at version 52. Hopefully, someone can help. Thank you.

Chosen solution

Thank you for pointing me in the direction of Options-Display-Formatting. I thought this selection only controlled the size of incoming mail being read. I didn't realize this selection also controlled the displayed size of mail being written in the composition window.

My default font was a reasonable size 18; however, when I selected Advanced, the "Fonts for" selection was "Other Writing Systems". When I changed "Fonts for" to Latin, I observed all font sizes were 9, which seemed to correspond to the tiny characters I was seeing. I changed all the 9's to 18, and that fixed my problem.

Thank you for your help.

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All Replies (2)

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 25 Contributor
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You have set the best option in the Options-Composition-General area, so this means it will be using the default 'font' specified in the Options-Display-Formatting tab.

Various fonts can appear larger or smaller for their 'medium'.

suggest Default font eg: Arial or Times new Roman and size 14.


BTW, if someone sends you email which has been created and copy pasted with formatting from eg:MSWord or it written using some css code then your 'Reply' maybe being controlled by the css code of the original email.

southwest_flyer
southwest_flyer Question owner
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Chosen Solution

Thank you for pointing me in the direction of Options-Display-Formatting. I thought this selection only controlled the size of incoming mail being read. I didn't realize this selection also controlled the displayed size of mail being written in the composition window.

My default font was a reasonable size 18; however, when I selected Advanced, the "Fonts for" selection was "Other Writing Systems". When I changed "Fonts for" to Latin, I observed all font sizes were 9, which seemed to correspond to the tiny characters I was seeing. I changed all the 9's to 18, and that fixed my problem.

Thank you for your help.