Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

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 can I make a default setting for Preview pane : OFF?

more options

The preview pane defaults to ON, and when it is on, any unread message I select shows up in Preview, so it is automatically read, and is consequently marked READ. To prevent this happening, I turn off the preview when I see it, but I would like to turn off the Preview pane permanently (preferably) or at least have it default to OFF (alternatively).

Is it possible?

The preview pane defaults to ON, and when it is on, any unread message I select shows up in Preview, so it is automatically read, and is consequently marked READ. To prevent this happening, I turn off the preview when I see it, but I would like to turn off the Preview pane permanently (preferably) or at least have it default to OFF (alternatively). Is it possible?

Chosen solution

Thanks. That explains it. I did the following ... 1. Checked that the message pane was off. 2. Rebooted, then started Thunderbird. Message pane was still off. 3. Ran CCleaner, which requires TB to be closed. Started Thunderbird and found that Message pane was ON. In future, I'll know to switch it off again after running CCleaner.

Read this answer in context 👍 5

All Replies (2)

more options

There is no message preview in Thunderbird. So I suppose you're talking about the message pane. The message pane can be toggled by pressing F8. When disabling it, it should stay disabled. There were several reports in this forum from people using CCleaner, that the message pane didn't stay off. In case you're using CCleaner, don't let mess with your your Thunderbird profile.

more options

Chosen Solution

Thanks. That explains it. I did the following ... 1. Checked that the message pane was off. 2. Rebooted, then started Thunderbird. Message pane was still off. 3. Ran CCleaner, which requires TB to be closed. Started Thunderbird and found that Message pane was ON. In future, I'll know to switch it off again after running CCleaner.

Modified by Mike Collins