so you sort by read... that is a green dot or not a green dot. click the heading a second time the reverse the sort order which is the same thing as sorting by "unread"

Or

Open the quick filter bar (ctrl+Shift+K) and click the unread button to show only unread mail in the folder remember to press escape (ESC key) or the X in the quickfilter search dialog to set things back to not filtered.

ohh and turn the message reading pane F8 off and the message will not be read as you mark them for deletion.

The message pane is off, I have turned it on and off again, just to be sure there wasn't a hiccup somewhere, but still marking as read when deleted

the same thing is happening on my husband's thunderbird, a different laptop and different email address tho both are charter.net

if I drag and drop the unread message to a folder is retains the unread bold status but not if using the delete button or the move to drop down function

this was working previously, I can't give you an exact date it stopped because my trash bin (I delete to trash) empties after 5 days

my husband (new thunderbird user) is deleting to deleted messages because he wants to retain his deleted messages until he wants to trash them and also wants to be able to id the unread from the read.... and this is not working

<2¢> You're making a distinction between "deleting" and "trashing" that I doubt anyone else will understand.

If you want it, file it. If you don't want it, delete it and don't expect to able to see it again.

It's not safe to rely on something remaining indefinitely in a trash/bin/deleted folder. </2¢>

The QuickFilter Bar has a read/unread filter. As does the Mail Views toolbar widget. And you can sort on read vs unread too.

Also there is View|Folders|Unread to restrict the display to just folders that contain unread messages.

ok, so we are using the delete button to move inbox emails to the 'deleted messages' folder ( a folder with the name 'deleted emails')

when the inbox unread (bold face) message is selected and either 1. deleted via the delete button or 2. right clicked and select Delete message

the message does go to the deleted messages folder but the bold face unread font is gone and message shows as read.... (and the same is true if the destination fold is the folder named "trash")

however, the wrinkle is if when right click and select the move to option, the email retains the bold face...

So how about a work around??? Is there any way to make a button to shortcut the "move to" option? since the delete option does not work to retain the unread bold face

But the delete button is taken to mean "I don't want this message". So it's not merely a move to the designated trash folder; it also marks the message as deleted and read, so the unwanted message disappears from sight. The delete button dismisses the message, assuming you have no further interest in it. You can even configure the delete button to delete the message immediately and permanently, though most users prefer a last chance to rescue messages from the trash folder before final deletion.

You're trying to file these messages, effectively to put them aside to consider later on. That is not what the delete button is for.

Yes, you can perform an explicit move to trash, but doing that bypasses the regular delete action, so the read/unread status is untouched.

You could use an add-on to add a custom button, and configure that button to move your messages. But you'd have to remember never to touch the regular delete button or use the right-click option.

Seems to me so much better to simply use the delete button for the purpose for which it was intended, i.e. deleting unwanted messages. And create a "pending" folder for the stuff you want to put aside. You can drag and drop to this folder, or use right-click|Move to.

hey, thanks

I guess I have just to work around as best as I can would still like to find a work around simple solution,

and appreciate the info.... I learned a number of things :)

I just sort of remember that once upon a time, the delete button or delete function did not change the bold unread font to unread.... this may be my imagination since I don't use my deleted files, but trying to coach my husband - new thunderbird user, and he had windows live mail previously and their delete button did not change the unread font...

thanks so much for all your help