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No button for creating an email message

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? I added Lightening to my Thunderbird set up over the weekend. Today, when I am in email (not in the calendar), I went to create an email. I clicked on "write" and it gave me two options in the drop down "Event" and "Task".

Note, again, I am on the email tab. Not the Calendar tab.

I want to write an email message. I really do need a button for this as I create many more email messages than calendar events.

I would prefer a dedicated button for this...not a 2-step button.

But, right now, I have no button at all.

? I added Lightening to my Thunderbird set up over the weekend. Today, when I am in email (not in the calendar), I went to create an email. I clicked on "write" and it gave me two options in the drop down "Event" and "Task". Note, again, I am on the email tab. Not the Calendar tab. I want to write an email message. I really do need a button for this as I create many more email messages than calendar events. I would prefer a dedicated button for this...not a 2-step button. But, right now, I have no button at all.

All Replies (7)

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First of all, reboot the computer. Forgive me if that is obvious, but some people need to be told it.

If you are missing the "Write" button completely from the toolbar, then right-click the toolbar and choose "Customize". This will open a window where you can add or remove buttons by dragging them to or from the toolbar and this window. Find "Write" and drag and drop it to the toolbar.

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Rebooting did not solve the problem.

As to the rest of this response...you didn't read the original message.

I have a "Write" button where it's always been. But, when I click on it I get "event" and "task" in the drop down menu.

All of this means that I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to send an email. Therefore, the calendar was a huge mistake.

When I click on "write" I was it to start a new email message and NOTHING ELSE>

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Take a look at my screenshot below.

What you are describing is what will show when you click where the green arrow is pointing. That is what I did for this screenshot, so it shows the drop-down menu.

If you click where the blue arrow is pointing, then the drop-down menu will not show. A Write window will open instead.

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Wow. Still not reading the message.

I have a "write" button in the upper left hand corner. Exactly 1. Not two. Just 1. It has only 1 function when clicked on. I get a drop down message. Doesn't matter where on the button I click. There is no bifurcation of the button.

When I click on it, I get a drop down list. See...I get the drop down.

The PROBLEM, as stated in my last two messages, is that the only items in the drop down are "task" and "event". THERE IS NO ITEM IN THE DROP DOWN FOR CREATING AN EMAIL MESSAGE. NONE. ZIP. ZERO. NADDA.

There is NO item in the drop down menu for creating a new email message....that is the problem. Nothing in the write-button drop down menu for creating a new message.

Again, there is NO option available for me to click on to create an email message. None.

That said, I have uninstalled lightening because its installation interfered with email...and now, clicking on the "write" button does nothing. NOTHING. I have a write button. I can see it. I know how to click on it. I can identify that nothing has happened. Everything has been rebooted multiple times, including the entire system.

Can someone more knowledgeable weigh in here?

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In my several years at contributing here, your problem is unique, unprecedented. No-one knows how it has happened, no-one knows what to do to fix it. Hence the apparent grasping at straws, trying to pick up on anything that might take us forward.

I think your profile is corrupted. Starting Thunderbird again with a clean profile would be a test for this theory. Starting over with a new profile is a painful and unwelcome "cure" because it will need a fair amount of work to rescue old messages from the broken profile.

Have you tried starting Thunderbrd in Safe Mode? This might eliminate one or two settings files that might be damaged and thereby restore correct behaviour.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/safe-mode-thunderbird

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Hey, take it easy. Half the people looking for help here don't know the difference between Thunderbird and Firefox. So I have learned to never assume that a person knows what they are talking about, are communicating effectively, and have not missed something obvious.

Your problem indicates that the installation of Thunderbird on your computer has been corrupted somehow. Possibly by file system or disk errors.

Run a Check Disk. How to run a "Check Disk" in Windows. Do the Check Disk that will check all the hard drive for problems, what I call a "Thorough" Check Disk in those instructions. This will take hours, so do it when convenient.

When the Check Disk is done, Thunderbird may still be corrupted, so an uninstall and reinstall would be necessary. The Check Disk was still necessary, though, despite this.

After the uninstall, run a Disk Cleanup, then reboot the computer. Then Download & install Thunderbird.

To run a Disk Cleanup, hold down the Windows key and press the "R" key. In the "Run" box, type:

 cleanmgr.exe

When Thunderbird is uninstalled, it leaves behind the Thunderbird Profile folder which contains all your e-mails, address books and various Thunderbird settings. Then when Thunderbird is installed again, it will see that folder, and automatically use that Profile again.

Even so, I strongly recommend that you backup the Thunderbird Profile folder to another location, just in case something goes wrong. I recommend following these instructions to manually back up the Profile folder.

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As it happens sometimes, someone was able to type in their response faster than I could type in mine.

Zenos is correct that it could be a corrupted Profile instead. He is also correct that running Thunderbird in Safe Mode might produce good results.

Thunderbird menu: Help: Restart with Add-ons Disabled.