To, CC and BCC
I've read a lot of help on this - almost all of them say, "As you have discovered there are three visible TO/Cc/Bcc fields..." and: " type or select email address and press enter to move to next TO field".
None of that works. I have only ONE visible "To" field. It has no controls to change it to a Cc or Bcc one. There is a "CC" or "BCC" option beside the "From" field. Pressing Enter at the end of an address does precisely nothing.
Another copy of TB on another computer has all the features you gaily point to - but mine doesn't. Where do I find it?
Chosen solution
Thunderbird 78 has changed compared to Thunderbird 68, that's why you see this discrepancy. In 68, the field name is a dropdown list, and you can change To to CC/BCC. In 78, however, you can add CCs and BCCs by clicking on the text buttons beside the To field.
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Nspagforums said
eddie18, good idea ! even better, put in a dummy email address (I have not tried this), such as [email protected], something simple, just as a placeholder ! will try later today
How to start writing messages with "empty" CC and/or BCC rows always open
The best current workaround is adding an invalid placeholder auto-CC address in account settings (e.g. invalid address "cc"):
≡ > Account Settings > YourAccount > Copies & Folders >
(check this option:) [x] CC these email addresses: [cc-delete-me ]
When you add your real Cc addresses, just press backspace twice to get rid of the placeholder Cc address.
Advantages of adding an invalid auto-cc address like "cc-delete-me":
- no risk of sending your message to a valid dummy address which might exist
- easy to spot as it will be marked red
OMG I just spent 3 hours going crazy and then I found the answer: create the email and press F9 to open the adress books (tool bar opens on the left of the message just like before). I actually found this on the mozilla FAQs...
Damm it all to hell TB. I used to add multiple CC's simply by hitting return. Now I have to add clicks on the CC or BCC. and move back and forth. PLEASE STOP MAKING IT WORSE.
wigglytoes1 said
Damm it all to hell TB. I used to add multiple CC's simply by hitting return. Now I have to add clicks on the CC or BCC. and move back and forth. PLEASE STOP MAKING IT WORSE.
Please be respectful! Furthermore, it's not true what you're saying. You can still add multiple CC's simply by hitting return using exactly the same pattern as before: Open CC field by single-clicking on the disclosure button (that's the equivalent of using the per-recipient type selector in TB 68, in fact it's now one click where it was two before), type first cc-address, hit Return (exactly once!), and write the next cc-address just *after* the first one. The only difference is that it will end up in the same row. Your muscle-memory has double-tricked you: You were expecting to type the next CC-recipient in the next row, so you actually pressed Enter *twice* (unlike before), which has indeed taken you to the next row. However, in the new design there's only one row for each type, as each row can hold multiple recipients.
Here's a starting point to read up on things: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/new-thunderbird-78#w_new-addressing-area
I just upgraded to 78.7.0 from 68.* thinking I'd find new and cool features I've come to expect. I didn't expect the entire mechanism for creating email to change in a way that can't be reset by editing the 'registry' of settings. I create dozens of new emails daily, between work, hobby, and town committee activities. There are always CC: entries, usually several, and as one person said, adding names to the TO: list doesn't serve.
I never before clicked on a "disclosure button" to add a CC line. What did 68.* do? Perhaps Enter or Tab did this?
Forcing me to switch from keyboard back to mouse simply to add CC:, or to use several keystrokes including Shift-Tab, which is more difficult, is not a workable proposition. I see there have been multiple passionate pleas in this thread. That this is a critical issue may not have been anticipated, but at the very least, authoring new emails should be AT THE CORE of this product. Please don't make it harder!
May I suggest the multiple CC and BCC lines be restored, and a way to press Tab or Enter added as a way to proceed from the current entry (To or CC) to the next one. I can see past having these in a vertical list, though that too is what I've done with Thunderbird these last 10-15 years. Why change it? Most of my emails have 5-10 destination addresses; the vertical space used is not onerous.
If you want to change the paradigm, fine. Just allow this legacy behavior to be enabled by a config: setting such as mail.write.show_cc_always or similar. Then we can enable it as needed.
Thank you for your time.
When i select the BCC option at the top of the window my contact list doesn't show up. I also have several folders in my address book that have contacts for various functions i need to email, how can i select them in the BCC function ? I would expect my address book to open when i select the BCC option.
Here's another vote from a several decades long Thunderbird user who can't stand this change. I keep wanting to be able to switch a To: line to be Cc: or Bcc:, or similar, and can no longer do it.
I'm just going to reinstall the old version, and then prevent updates from occurring.
There should be an advanced flag to allow Thunderbird users who liked the only interface, to be able to switch back to it. I've never had any problems of any sort with the old interface.