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Thunderbird Message Composition Errors

  • 9 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 10 views
  • Last reply by Stans

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Composing email from Thunderbird 68.9.0 for macOS double spaces for every Return character, and if I use PopChar to insert true quote marks and apostrophes, they appear to the recipient as ???????? instead, and I see them if they reply and include the original message. How can I stop this and get TB to insert true quotes and apostrophes automatically?

Composing email from Thunderbird 68.9.0 for macOS double spaces for every Return character, and if I use PopChar to insert true quote marks and apostrophes, they appear to the recipient as ???????? instead, and I see them if they reply and include the original message. How can I stop this and get TB to insert true quotes and apostrophes automatically?

Chosen solution

Mulder said

At first glance, it seems to have solved the problem, but I won't know for certain until I send more email from that account and they reply to me, quoting the original message.

You can use another email account for such tests, for example a Gmail account, then send to it and reply from it.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (9)

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To stop the double spaces, go to Preferences > Composition > General and uncheck the option labeled Use Paragraph format instead of Body text by default.

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I got the double spacing problem solved, but that still leaves the ????? appearing wherever I've used PopChar to insert a true quote or apostrophe. How do I solve that problem.

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You should be using Unicode (UTF-8) text encoding for both outgoing and incoming messages, and the recipient should also be using the same. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1197969

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I am using Unicode; always have been.

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Which server are you sending on? Some, based on Yahoo, replace special characters with ?? unless a preference in TB is switched.

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This is a Yahoo POP account.

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See this topic: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1260169

AOL, AT&T, Rogers, Sky, Frontier etc. are all based on Yahoo mail.

Does changing the preference eliminate the ??

Modified by sfhowes

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At first glance, it seems to have solved the problem, but I won't know for certain until I send more email from that account and they reply to me, quoting the original message.

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Chosen Solution

Mulder said

At first glance, it seems to have solved the problem, but I won't know for certain until I send more email from that account and they reply to me, quoting the original message.

You can use another email account for such tests, for example a Gmail account, then send to it and reply from it.