Sure there is.

When you write the email on the options menu is priority. If anyone takes an notice of it at all is another ting entirely. I actually have a filter that resets those to normal, as I really do not like others thinking they can set my priorities. So often what others think is important is not even on my radar.

I have the same question & was about to submit a Post but then I saw your reply above & tried it. I sent an email to myself marked in Options\Priority as 'Highest Importance'. But in both the Send & the Reply there is no indication at all as to the priority. So your reply doesn't work, or am I still missing something here?

In Thunderbird I believe there is a Priority column that you have to turn on to see anything. I do not have access to Thunderbird to check right now. Click the icon at the right end of the header bar and see if there isn't a Priority column.

Thanks - but I don't see any icon at the right end of the header bar. As noted above, Options\Priority doesn't work either. It was always so easy in Windows Live Mail.

I suggest you look closer.

Closer at what for heavens sake! There is nothing there! Do you think I'm an idiot!?

I do not know you well enough to make the idiot judgement. I will leave that up to your family and close friends to make that call.

Every header bar in Thunderbird has an icon at the right end. Maybe with a picture you can find you way to it.

I assume he is saying look closer, because if you see the heading on your mail lists the widget is on the end.

Priority is simply a column, jut another flag in the message. It does not make the message flash red or anything for the recipient, not in Thunderbird anyway. I have no idea how other mail clients look at it. But looking a a test mail in Outlook.com I see a red exclamation mark (until I mouse over it and it disappears) on the far right of the screen along with the date. Not something that would draw my attention in any way really. Further investigation would indicate Outlook only use high and low for priority. All the other settings are turned into one or the other, or normal.

Gmail simply do not support importance at all. So regardless of what you set there will be nothing for the recipient to see. Yahoo have no option to set the priority and as far as I can see have nothing to display it either. But I can assure you it works, that most people will not see the flag notwithstanding. The function works, however few implement it.

Sure I can click on the widget on the email listing & run down to 'Priority' & click on that & it adds a column that shows the Priority that I assigned to a Sent email. But - so what!? In my tests to myself when Composing I use Options\Priority to select a Priority but then there is no confirmation or indication of the Priority in the email. When I get the email there is no indication of the Priority. When I check my email listings - Sent & Inbox - I can see now the Priority that I assigned to it. But it is obvious that the recipient did not get any indication of my Priority. In Thunderbird the Priority feature is useless & a waste of time. Or tell me once more what I'm missing here.

It is a waste of time. Personally I set my priorities and not some person sending me an email. At least now you know your claim that when you sent yourself an message you did not see anything was because you did not have the Priority column turned on.

So you agree that it is a waste of time. Do you know if TB is working on it?

I don't think you get it yet. What the user receiving the mail sees is entirely up to the mail client they use. If they use Thunderbird, by default they see nothing. I see no reason to change that default by the way. If they use Gmail they see nothing. If they use Yahoo they see nothing. In outlook they see an exclamation mark way off to the far right of the windows. I have no idea how other mail clients do or do not show priority. Largely because what I do know I learned today because you asked the question. I have no interest in priority at all. I approach my email with my own priorities.

Is it a waste of time? Yes I think it is, along with return receipts and delivery status notifications. The later are almost gone already due to spam. In forming my opinion, it is not the Thunderbird that makes it a waste of time. It is the fact that it is something that only a small minority of users will ever see and even less will care about.

I do get it very well. 'Priority' in TB is useless & a waste of time. I compare to Windows Live Mail where 'High Importance' is shown clearly & immediately in the Sender's email & in the receiver's email, irrespective of the receiver's email server. For reasons why I switched from WLM to TB look on the Web for the June 2 article in the British newspaper The Guardian. I can live without 'Priority' & there are a few minor irritants in TB that I can live with too. There is a bigger problem with Exporting csv files, & I put in a separate Post on that earlier this evening. Overall I find that TB does a good job on the handling of emails. The Address Book is very good, especially compared to Mailbird, which I also tried, where the Address Book is bad. TB is free & I don't expect perfection.