thunderbird

Mozilla email and calendar client

TLDR

Start Thunderbird

$ thunderbird

Compose new message

$ thunderbird -compose "[to='email@example.com',subject='Hello']"

Open profile manager

$ thunderbird -ProfileManager

Use specific profile

$ thunderbird -P [profile-name]

Safe mode

$ thunderbird -safe-mode

Check for new mail

$ thunderbird -mail

Open address book

$ thunderbird -addressbook

SYNOPSIS

thunderbird [-compose opts] [-P profile] [options]

thunderbird is Mozilla's free, open-source email client that supports multiple email accounts, calendar integration, an address book, RSS feed reading, and built-in OpenPGP encryption for secure messaging.The application supports IMAP, POP3, and SMTP protocols, and can be extended with add-ons for additional functionality. It uses profiles to store settings and data, manageable through the -ProfileManager flag, and can be launched in -safe-mode to troubleshoot issues with extensions.

PARAMETERS

-compose OPTS

Compose a new message. Options include to, cc, bcc, subject, body, attachment as comma-separated key=value pairs.

-P NAME

Start with the specified profile.

-ProfileManager

Open the profile manager to create or select profiles.

-safe-mode

Start in safe mode with all extensions disabled for troubleshooting.

-mail

Open the mail client and check for new messages.

-addressbook

Open the address book.

-no-remote

Do not accept or send remote commands; run a new instance.

-search

Open the global search tab.

CAVEATS

Desktop application. Profile-based storage. Memory usage can be high with many accounts or large mailboxes.

HISTORY

Thunderbird was originally developed by Mozilla Foundation as a companion to Firefox. Since 2020, it has been maintained by the MZLA Technologies subsidiary. It was rebranded as Thunderbird Supernova with the major UI refresh in version 115 (2023).