Thunderbird is rolling out its v142.0 and v128.14 ESR updates starting today, with the monthly release now being the default download option for everyone. The v142 update brings a few great new features and fixes, and the ESR has some important security updates.
The first thing that jumps out in Thunderbird 142.0 is the ability to add signatures to PDF attachments. It’s not always easy to find PDF editors that work well online for free, so this is a big deal for anyone who frequently deals with documents and needs to sign things quickly and easily. Another change that seems useful is the addition of “Copy Message Link” and “Copy News Link” to the header pane’s “More actions” menu. This should make it a lot faster to share links to specific messages or news articles with others.
you’re able to also now copy folders within mail server accounts and local folders, which is something that I think should have been there from the start. Finally, if you’ve been messing around with the folder order and want to go back to the default, there’s a new “Reset Folder Order” option in the folder pane that will let you do just that.
As with most of these updates, a lot of what’s been changed is under the hood. For example, the “Copy Message Location” option was removed from the mail context menu. While this might seem like a small change, it’s a way to streamline the user experience and get rid of a redundant and confusing option.
What’s really impressive about this update is the sheer number of bugs that have been fixed. For instance, if you’ve ever had an error pop up when you restart Thunderbird with attachments open in tabs, that issue is now fixed. If you’ve been annoyed that notification sounds don’t respect your operating system’s do-not-disturb mode, you’re in luck because it’s been patched up. This is a huge deal for anyone who uses their computer for work and wants to avoid distractions.
There are also fixes for some pretty specific issues that only certain users might have run into. For example, some non-English versions of Thunderbird would create English special folders on the first start, but that’s been corrected. Users who had trouble with Fastmail calendars due to missing OAuth settings can now use them without a problem. Even something as small as the closed caption button on Linux being inactive when the mouse is in the screen corner has been addressed.
Some of the other fixes are more about making the daily workflow less frustrating. Toggling dark message mode no longer messes up the focus and scroll position, which is a welcome change for anyone who uses dark mode to read emails. The message list won’t scroll back to the top when you return to the mail tab after opening a message, which is a small but incredibly annoying bug that’s finally gone. You also won’t have to worry about the “Mark All Read” option affecting newsgroup messages that haven’t been fetched yet.
Thunderbird recently publisheda developer blog postabout everything it’s been working on, but some of those changes aren’t ready for this release. In the meantime, you candownload Thunderbirdfrom the official website for Mac, Linux, and Windows.
