New in Thunderbird 8

This article describes the major changes in Thunderbird version 8. For a complete list of bugs that have been resolved in the release, refer to the list maintained on The Rumbling Edge blog or the Thunderbird Builds thread on MozillaZine.

Changes

This release contains the following changes that will affect users:

• New Search and Find Shortcuts (for a complete list, see the keyboard shortcuts article):
  • Find text in current message: Ctrl + FCommand + FCtrl + F
  • Search for messages in a folder (search dialog): Ctrl + Shift + FCommand + Shift + FCtrl + Shift + F
  • Find again in current message: Ctrl + G or F3Command + G or F3Ctrl + G or F3
  • Find previous in current message: Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3Command + Shift + G or Shift + F3Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3
  • Move to Search Bar (Global Search): Ctrl + KCommand + KCtrl + K
  • Quick Filter Bar: Ctrl + Shift + KCommand + Shift + KCtrl + Shift + K

• The folder pane switcher has been removed from the left panel. To change the view, use View | Folders. It can be reinstated as described below. (Note that third-party add-ons and modifications to the Thunderbird source code are not officially supported by Mozilla.)
  • install the Folder Pane View Switcher add-on, or
  • (for advanced users) modify the userChrome.css file as described in this MozillaZine article.

• The list of attachments associated with an email message has been tidied up and is now more accessible and also responds to standard keyboard navigation.

• Add-ons that are installed by another application will be disabled by default. The user will be given the opportunity to enable them when the original add-on is first run.

• Thunderbird's privacy policy is now accessible from the About Thunderbird dialog (Help | AboutThunderbird | About Thunderbird).

Windows Problems

Some Windows users have encountered a problem where Thunderbird 8 crashes when they start it. If you encounter this problem, download the Thunderbird installer file again and reinstall it.