This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How do I delete an e-mail in thunderbird without opening it

more options

I receive a lot of spam in my inbox. If I delete these (unread) mails Thunderbird automatically opens them first (they go from bold to unbold), most probably sending a message to the sender that the receiver is responsive. This enables even more spam. I want to delete an e-mail without Thunderbird opening it first.

I receive a lot of spam in my inbox. If I delete these (unread) mails Thunderbird automatically opens them first (they go from bold to unbold), most probably sending a message to the sender that the receiver is responsive. This enables even more spam. I want to delete an e-mail without Thunderbird opening it first.

Chosen solution

Hi Well, the Thunderbird email acknowledgement settings control responses to emails that are sent with a request for a 'return receipt'. You can adjust the settings at - Menu - Options - Advanced In the General tab under Advanced - the first item - click the button for Return receipts. The first few settings are about sending your emails out with receipt requests, the next are about how to respond to incoming emails. there are options for Always send, Never send, and Ask me. Hope that helps, Agnes

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (4)

more options

Hi If you have the Message Pane open, clicking on an email does open it. Try - close message pane (F8) Select the messages you don't want and [Shift] [Delete] to permanently delete them or - Right click the message and choose delete from menu. You can also set Thunderbird not to send message acknowledgements without asking. That said, if the spammer is looking for working email addresses, simply not getting a bounce message from the email server might be enough for them to keep trying. Hope that helps, Agnes

more options

Hello Agnes, Thank you for your help. The F8 option is helpful, but deleting it either with shift-Delete or right mouse click does still result in quickly opening it first before deleting it. Your option to "set Thunderbird not to send message acknowledgements without asking" seems the best one. How do I do that? I checked the options in Thunderbird, but did not find this option. Best, Mattijn

more options

Chosen Solution

Hi Well, the Thunderbird email acknowledgement settings control responses to emails that are sent with a request for a 'return receipt'. You can adjust the settings at - Menu - Options - Advanced In the General tab under Advanced - the first item - click the button for Return receipts. The first few settings are about sending your emails out with receipt requests, the next are about how to respond to incoming emails. there are options for Always send, Never send, and Ask me. Hope that helps, Agnes