Can't copy web content from Firefox to Thunderbird and keep the format on Windows 7
This is specific from Firefox to Thunderbird compose window on Windows 7. I can highlight and copy web content to Word and it keeps all of the web formatting in the original content. I can also copy the same content to a Word 2013 document, Outlook compose window, or a google drive document and the formatting will be kept.
This issue is occurring in the most recent versions of Thunderbird and Firefox (38.7.1 and 45.0.1 respectively) on every Windows 7 machine I have tried. According to the user, this started sometime in the last 2 weeks.
The first screen shot is the content in Firefox. The second screen shot is the pasted content in Thunderbird compose window. The third screen shot is the same pasted content in Word 2013.
To clarify how I am pasting:
- I am highlighting the text with my mouse, pressing Ctrl + C, going to the Thunderbird compose window, and pressing Ctrl + V
- I have also tried the right click method and selecting copy, going to the Thunderbird compose window, right clicking and pressing Paste.
This issue does not occur on Ubuntu or on Mac OS X. It also does not occur if I copy and paste from Chrome to Firefox.
The reason this is an issue: we build all of our web apps to work and be supported in Firefox. Chrome is an option, but not our supported browser.
Things I have tried:
- Uninstalling and reinstalling both Thunderbird and Firefox completely (even removing folders left behind by the installer).
- Toggling some of the clipboard entries in the config editor for both Thunderbird and Firefox.
Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated.
Possible Solutions Tried
Solution 1 (Didn't work):
- Right click your account in the folder pane.
- Select settings
- In composition and addressing for the account select "Compose message in HTML format"
Modified by hsmithsb
Chosen solution
Hi hsmithsb, a user who reported this problem in another thread indicated that Firefox 45.0.2 has resolved the issue. Could you try that out on one of your machines?
https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/45.0.2/releasenotes/
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (6)
- Right click your account in the folder pane.
- Select settings
- In composition and addressing for the account select "Compose message in HTML format"
Hey Matt, just checked and this is checked both in my test environment, my project manager's machine. and all of the employees that are using thunderbird and attempting to use this functionality.
Thanks for responding.
Modified by hsmithsb
In my use of daily builds, I have no issue.
I suggest you try Thunderbird in safe mode (Hold shift while starting) to disable all add-ons, and a few other features like hardwareacceleration.
also try Firefox in the same mode. perhaps it is an add-on on one or the other that is causing the issue
Sorry, copying HTML in Firefox and having it paste as plain text in Thunderbird is a problem between Firefox 45.0/45.0.1 and Thunderbird 38 and will be fixed in Thunderbird 45 (still in testing now, probably available near month's end).
For the time being, pasting into an intermediary application, selecting the HTML there, and copying it again before pasting into Thunderbird appears to be the most commonly employed workaround.
If you find it easier to launch the page in IE or Chrome and copy from there, you can use the Open in IE extension as a way to speed up that process: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/open-in-ie/ (to make it launch Chrome, change the path on the extension's Options page from the IE .exe to the Chrome .exe)
Since you may be interested in the background on this, Windows applications copy to the clipboard in numerous different formats. In Firefox 44-45, some legacy formats were pared and unfortunately one of those cut in Firefox 45 is the only HTML format Thunderbird 38.x looks for when the source is Firefox. I'm not sure how that was missed; it could be that the Firefox beta testers who use Thunderbird mostly use the beta version of Thunderbird rather than the stable release version so it wasn't noticed. ??
Hey jscher2000,
Thanks for the heads up. I had a feeling that was the issue considering we basically have a whole department (45+ people) plus my test machine and my project manager's machine that have the issue. I'll keep checking for the next update to see if the issue is resolved.
Cheers, Hunter
Chosen Solution
Hi hsmithsb, a user who reported this problem in another thread indicated that Firefox 45.0.2 has resolved the issue. Could you try that out on one of your machines?