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Is it possible to have the old compose window UI back? (TB 78.x)

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by sfhowes

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Well, this is a question and a rant. The rant first: The new addressing UI in the compose window, introduced with Thunderbird 78(?), where all addresses of a certain type (To, Cc, BCC ecc.) are in a single line/field is - in my very personal opinion - terrible and user-unfriendly (So user-unfriendly that I consider changing the mailclient after 20 years)

  • Changing an address e.g. from To to Cc requires to retype the address in the Cc line. No drag-and-drop is possible and addresses cannot be "switched" to other address headers via the previous handy popup menu any more
  • That the Cc field is not permanently available is a pain for those who require Cc in every second mail they send
  • The "Reply-To" field is even more unavailable and hidden in a submenu of the toolbar in the compose window. I need "Reply-To" at least 10-20 times per day (with various addresses) and this is a lot of additional mouse movement I have to do

And consequently my question is: Is there a way to have the behaviour of the old compose window back? I have looked in the configuration editor but I haven't found any setting that seemed appropriate for this. I am using TB 78.1.1 on macOS

Well, this is a question and a rant. The rant first: The new addressing UI in the compose window, introduced with Thunderbird 78(?), where all addresses of a certain type (To, Cc, BCC ecc.) are in a single line/field is - in my very personal opinion - terrible and user-unfriendly (So user-unfriendly that I consider changing the mailclient after 20 years) * Changing an address e.g. from To to Cc requires to retype the address in the Cc line. No drag-and-drop is possible and addresses cannot be "switched" to other address headers via the previous handy popup menu any more * That the Cc field is not permanently available is a pain for those who require Cc in every second mail they send * The "Reply-To" field is even more unavailable and hidden in a submenu of the toolbar in the compose window. I need "Reply-To" at least 10-20 times per day (with various addresses) and this is a lot of additional mouse movement I have to do And consequently my question is: '''Is there a way to have the behaviour of the old compose window back?''' I have looked in the configuration editor but I haven't found any setting that seemed appropriate for this. I am using TB 78.1.1 on macOS

All Replies (3)

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As far as I know, you can't change that look. It's the new look and will definitely stay. You could always revert back to v68 or whichever older version you prefer. They are all archived here https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases

You can easily move addresses between the To, Cc and Bcc fields via right-clicks.

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ok, thanks. the move around of the addresses is ok, thanks for the hint. But e.g. it doesn't include the "Reply-To".

And I just found out, that - as it seems and I don't have found a solution so far - I don't have the possibility to select the forwarding-type (inline vs. attachment) any more when I use the "Forwared" button in the email toolbar. I have to manually select the type from the menu (which is far away from where my mouse is when I work through my mails). This is an other bummer for me, as I very often (several times per day) forward and it's ca. 50/50 inline and attachment forwards. I will definitively roll back this version and never ever upgrade to 7x.

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Forward As/Inline or Attachment is in the message right-click menu.