Sometimes you might want to access the Thunderbird address book without loading the entire application. This can be done by invoking the application from the system command line with a command-line option.
Press 
+ R to open a Run dialog. Then enter:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook Open a terminal window (Application > Utilities > Terminal), then enter:
cd /Applications/Thunderbird.app/Contents/MacOS
./thunderbird-bin -addressbook
Open Terminal, then enter:
cd <thunderbird_installation_directory>
./thunderbird-bin -addressbook
If you need to open a standalone Thunderbird address book frequently, you can make a shortcut for the command. For example, on Windows, the shortcut would have the following properties:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook
For a complete list of Thunderbird command-line options, see the Command Line Options page in the Mozilla Developer Center.
