How to Set Up Mozilla Thunderbird on Windows, Mac, & Linux

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Start using Thunderbird to send and receive email in no time

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: October 19, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Adding an Email Account
|
• Editing an Email Account
|
• Video
|
• Q&A
|
• Tips

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Mozilla Thunderbird is an open-source, easy-to-use email client originally released in 2003. The program acts as a hub where you can organize all your email addresses and the messages you receive from each in one location. This wikiHow guide will teach you how to set up your email account in Thunderbird and edit a Thunderbird account when you need to make changes.

Quick Steps

1. Click the menu ☰.
2. Click New Account.
3. Click Email.
4. Enter your name, email address, and password.
5. Click Continue'.
6. Confirm your server information and click Done.

Steps

Section 1 of 2:

Adding an Email Account

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1. 1
   Download and install Thunderbird. To download the installer, go to https://www.thunderbird.net, click Download, select your locale, and click Download again. If prompted, click Save or Download to save the file.

   • To install Thunderbird on Windows, double-click the downloaded file, then follow the on-screen instructions.
   • To install Thunderbird on a Mac, double-click the downloaded file, then drag the Thunderbird icon to the Applications folder.
2. 2
   Click on the hamburger menu ☰. It's at the upper-right corner of Thunderbird.

   • If you don't see the menu icon, click the gear icon at the bottom-left corner and select Account Settings. Then, click the Account Actions menu and choose Add Mail Account.
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3. 3
   Select New Account. Another menu will expand.
4. 4
   Select Email. This opens Thunderbird's Account Setup screen.
5. 5
   Enter your name, email address, and password, and click Continue. The name you enter will be shown in the "From" section of the email you send from Thunderbird. Thunderbird will now attempt to configure the rest of your email setup automatically.

   • If you're using a web service like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Outlook.com, Thunderbird will automatically import the information you'll need to start sending and receiving email. Just choose between IMAP (keep your email on the remote server—preferred) or POP3 (delete your email from the server after you download it in Thunderbird), and click Done. Your email is now set up in Thunderbird.
   • If Thunderbird fails to find the settings for your email account, the "Manual Configuration" panel will open, and you'll see fields to enter the server info yourself.
6. 6
   Enter the server names and ports for your email account. The server information you need to send and receive email is provided to you by the host of your email service, which may be your work, school, ISP, or other web host. Enter the required information into the form.

   • If you're not sure what to enter into these fields, contact your administrator to ask for the following info:
     • Incoming mail server and port
     • Whether the incoming mail server is IMAP or POP3
     • Username
     • Authentication method
     • Outgoing mail server and port
7. 7
   Click Done to complete Thunderbird setup. As long as the information you provided is correct, Thunderbird will now connect to your email host and start retrieving messages.

   • You can repeat this method to add multiple email accounts to Thunderbird.
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Section 2 of 2:

Editing an Email Account

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1. 1
   Click the email account you want to edit. If you need to change your username, real name, reply-to address, password, mail server info, or switch between POP and IMAP, it's easy to do.

   • If you have a new email provider, you can simply add your new account and remove the old one. To remove an account from Thunderbird, right-click or control-click the account, go to Settings > Account Actions, and select Remove Account.
2. 2
   Click Account Settings. It's at the top-right corner of Thunderbird when your email account is selected. This opens the Account Settings screen for this account.
3. 3
   Click Server Settings to edit incoming mail server info. This is where you can change your mail server name and type, update your username and authentication type, and choose what happens when you delete a message.
4. 4
   Click Outgoing Server (SMTP) to change outgoing mail settings. Here, you'll find the outgoing mail server configuration for the selected account. To edit it, click the server name, then click Edit…. You can change the server hostname, port, security and authentication types, and user name here.
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Community Q&A

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• Question

  How do I send email in cc: or bcc:?

  

  Community Answer

  When composing or replying to a message, you will have the cc: and bcc: lines below the recipient's address. Simply fill these lines in with the addresses as you would normal to: addressees. Note that you must put in at least one address on the to: line; if you want all recipients of the message to be bcc:, you can simply put your own e-mail address as the recipient.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 3 Helpful 2
• Question

  How do you open JPEG attachments?

  

  Community Answer

  You may have to convert the attachment to a .rar or a .zip, depending on the content inside of the file.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 5 Helpful 1
• Question

  How do I load an address book?

  

  Community Answer

  Scan your physical address book into the computer and upload it to Thunderbird through the settings page.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 13 Helpful 4

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Tips

• The Thunderbird website features a section for downloading add-ons. Add-ons include music players, image zooms, mass emailing, password managers, and pop-up blockers. Some add-ons are free, while others require a set contribution.
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