Software I like: Thunderbird

Copies of sent messages

In Account Settings ► Copies & Folders, at When sending messages, the default is to place copies of sent messages in the Sent folder on the IMAP server. That is inconsistent with the server’s use of the Sent Items folder, and the server sends sent messages there even if the Place a copy in box is unchecked. If that box is checked and the Sent Items folder is specified, two copies of each sent mesage are copied there.

Disk space and compacting of folders

These settings are at Settings ► General, near the bottom. The check box for Ask every time before compacting seems to be reset from time to time (perhaps when Windows is restarted?).

Collection of e-mail addresses

By default, e-mail addresses to which messages are sent are automatically collected. The CollectAddresses add-on can be used to collect e-mail addresses from one folder at a time.

Error console

The error console is displayed by doing Tools ► Developer Tools ► Error Console. To display timestamps on the messages, click on the Console Settings gear icon (upper right) and then click on Show Timestamps.

Use with Microsoft Exchange

• Thunderbird and Microsoft Exchange Servers (Reddit, 2024 Jun 27)
  • ‘Native support for Exchange mail accounts is expected in the next release, 128, this summer. At the moment, there are add-ons (Owl, ExQuilla) for Exchange accounts. Calendars and contacts are supported with the TbSync/Provider for Exchange ActiveSync add-ons.’
  • ‘I recently started trying out Owl. So far, it works pretty well to get my Exchange email and calendar from work integrated. There is a 30 day trial, then apparently is a few dollars.’
• Owl for Exchange: supports both EWS and OWA, supports 2FA paid add-on, 1st month free, 10 € per year (~15.83 CAD) (2025 Mar 30)
• ExQuilla for Exchange: by same people as Owl; older, more mature but uncertain future ( comparison) paid add-on, same price as Owl
• Adventures In Rust: Bringing Exchange Support To Thunderbird (2024 Apr 19)
  • ‘EWS is deprecated for removal in 2026. Are there plans to add support for Microsoft Graph into Thunderbird?’: ‘EWS will no longer be available for Exchange Online in October 2026, but our research in the lead-up to this project showed that there’s a significant number of users who are still using on-premise installs of Exchange Server. … These on-premise installs largely support EWS, but they cannot support the Azure-based Graph API. We expect that this will continue to be the case for some time to come, and EWS provides a means of supporting those users for the foreseeable future.’
• wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Exchange
  • In Thunderbird 136, Exchange feature points to Owl
• [meta] Implement Microsoft Exchange bug