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and check for updates.

At tools | options | advanced | updates | "show update history" do you find any errors listed??

Thanks. There's no "options" items under tools. (I'm not a Mac, if that matters.) I got to the update history via Preferences. It says no updates yet installed. But this is a brand new install that I did manually since auto updates wasn't working. I basically just ditched the old install and started over. Hoping to figure out a way to avoid doing that again.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Menu_differences_in_Windows,_Linux,_and_Mac

I generally just update in place. It overwrites the previous version.

Sorry. What does update in place mean? Does it mean you download a new version and set up all you accounts again. Isn't TB supposed to update automatically when you set it to do so?

do I need to uninstall 31.0 first?

Can you tell me how you did that? What are the steps.? My version did not install automatically so I had to download a new version. It did not overwrite the old one. It installed a new version and I had to set up all the accounts again. What are the instructions for 1) getting TB to update automatically when it's set to do so and 2) updating it manually so that it overwrites the old version?

I can't answer any mac-specific questions. I don't know what you do with a dmg file.

In normal use, Thunderbird periodically checks for updates and prompts the user when a new one is available, or downloads it automatically, depending on preference settings.

But some series of Thunderbird don't update to the next. These are rare but you may have hit the end of one sequence. In that case, I'd go to this site:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

or this site:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/all/

select the required version, download the installer and run it. In Linux and all version of Windows prior to W10, this would have installed the new version over the top of the existing version. Windows 10 seems to have a funny way of installing new alongside old. I have given up trying to understand what Microsoft are up to.

If your system installs new next to old, I would, because this is an unusual situation, uninstall both old and new Thunderbirds and install from scratch. That should avoid any oddities with multiple versions being concurrently installed. I feel I will have to do the same when I am made to use W10 full time. At the moment, here it's hidden away on another partition out of harm's way.

Your settings are stored in a separate set of files known as the profile and these remain in place even if you delete the Thunderbird program itself.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-tb

Once you are on the main release track then subsequent upgrades should be offered automatically.

The Linux version is tweaked and shipped via the repository and the appropriate update tool (apt, yum whatever). This affects the frequency of updates for Linux users, and those of use who don't want or can't afford to wait for the repository to be upgraded get it from the mozilla site. This process means that for me the automated update doesn't work.

Again, I don't know macs. I don't know how their system handles updates and it's quite possible your experience will differ. I'm just trying to paint a picture of the vagaries of the update system and how different users might experience it.

The settings for updates are here: Tools|Options|Advanced|Update

Thanks. As mentioned, I've manually installed a new version of TB. Now I want to know to to get it to update automatically or alert me when updates are available and then allow me to install the updates on top of the existing version. Neither of those things has ever happened with TB despite being set to do so. Can someone who knows Macs please explain how to get this to work? Thank you.

options/Preferences> Advanced > update

But that will only work if your firewall allows Thunderbird access to the relevant servers and ports.

It's set to notify me of available updates but it never does. How would I know if I'm being denied access to relevant servers and ports?

check your firewall for blocking the web server https://aus5.mozilla.org or aus any number at mozilla.org

Make sure ports 80 and 443 are available to Thunderbird.