Reading Messages in Thunderbird

Thunderbird is extremely flexible in the ways you can read incoming mail. This page will cover the basics.

Here's a sample screenshot of Thunderbird's main window in the default layout. (There are two alternate layouts available.) In this layout, the folders are on the left, the message list is on the right, and the message pane is bottom right.

Select any folder on the left to see its contents on the right. (There are two alternate layouts; this is called the Classic Layout.) If a folder contains unread messages, its name will be displayed in bold. (Account names are always shown in bold.)

You have control over which columns are displayed. (How do I change which columns are displayed?)

There are a number of ways to tell which messages haven't been read yet.

	The row in the message list appears in bold (Windows and Macintosh)
	The icon at the beginning of the Subject column is a closed envelope (Windows only)
	(If this is the first time you've looked at this folder since the message arrived, there will also be a red star on the envelope. Windows only)
	The Status column will be blank (Windows) or New (Macintosh)
	The Read column will show a green dot (Windows) or blue starburst (Macintosh)

When you highlight a message in the message list on the right, you'll see a preview of the body of that message below, in the message area. To open a message in its own window, double-click on the message in the list.