I have mentioned any number of times that I don't run any realtime anti-virus.

Apparently, most people can't read.

I also ran, any number of times, both Thunderbird and Windows in safe mode - I also mentioned that a few times.. That didn't help.

Read what I wrote.

Hello,

I'm having a problem that may be related to the OP's issue.

A popup on Thunderbird 60.9.1 (32-bit) says that an update is available (68.3.0). When I click to update, another popup says that the update failed, but doesn't explain why if failed.

Thunderbird 60.9.1 continues working normally.

I have these Add-On's (see attached screenshot):

ImportExportTools Lightning ReFwdFormatter SmartTemplate4 (this one is disabled)

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

Please advise.

For me after updating to 68.3.1 TODAY PANE does not roll to the next day. You must now restart Thunderbird at or after midnight. This is a huge pain in the morning before coffee.

Foxtrot7,

I haven't tried to update my desktop Thunderbird to 68.xx anytime recently, so I have no experience.

60.9.1 runs really well.

My Thunderbird Portable is current, 68.3.1, and I have had no update issues.

It runs very well...

I have Lightning as my sole add-on in both versions.

I wish I knew why I can't use 68.XX, I tried everything.

Thanks.

My TBird updated today to 68x and the Calendar is GONE. This blows....chunks. WTH?

re :For me after updating to 68.3.1 TODAY PANE does not roll to the next day. You must now restart Thunderbird at or after midnight.

Performed a test as I usually switch everything off. Updated today, so using 68.3.1 Left computer on with TB running until 1 AM and Today Pane auto went to correct date. So I'm not experiencing that particular issue.

re : Addons that work with 68.0* General info: 'ReFwdFormatter 2.68.0' works with 68.0* https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/refwdformatter/

'ImportExportTools' has been taken on by another person and you would need to use 'ImportExportTools NG' 4.0.4 works with versions 60 to 69 https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools-ng/?src=search

Lightning now has same version number as TB version number.

'SmartTemplate4' 2.6, works with versions 60 to 69 https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/smarttemplate4/?src=search

If anyone has an issue with updating could you try starting/booting up computer in 'Safe Mode with Networking', then start Thunderbird. Then try to update. It might be helpful to have some feedback on whether this works and also post:

• the Anti-Virus you use
• Whether the update was a TB windows64 bit or TB windows32bit

To Toad-Hall, and to everyone else,

Thank you for providing the Add-On versions that appear to be compatible with Thunderbird 68.xx

However, after my recent Thunderbird update failure and the serious issues with Thunderbird 68.xx reported here by other users, I am very concerned about the integrity of Thunderbird going forward.

It appears that Mozilla, or whoever is in charge of developing Thunderbird these days, may be failing to update Thunderbird in the rigorous manner in which an email client must be updated.

This doubt is additionally fueled by Mozilla's recent statements that Thunderbird development is draining its Firefox development, and that Mozilla is considering dropping Thunderbird.

See this ZDnet article: https://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-we-will-keep-thunderbird-after-all-so-long-as-its-not-a-burden-to-firefox/

Faced with this doubt, I am now reluctant to upgrade out of Thunderbird 60.9.1 (32-bit), for fear that my email client (Thunderbird) will stop working, or will corrupt my email database !

I very much prefer to store my personal emails on a local computer, rather than on cloud servers controlled by another party. And I think most Thunderbird users share that view.

So I very much want Mozilla to continue developing and updating Thunderbird, but to do so with due rigor.

Foxtrot7 said

However, after my recent Thunderbird update failure and the serious issues with Thunderbird 68.xx reported here by other users, I am very concerned about the integrity of Thunderbird going forward.

Changes to add-ons are painful, but necasary. That is the end of that discussion. If someone developed an addon and no longer maintains it, that is something you need to take up with them. It has nothing to do with the Thunderbird developers or management team. That you have no raised your own support topic is particularly relevant here. I have no idea what "after my recent Thunderbird update failure" means in your case and a thread started by someone else is not the place to seek one on one support.

It appears that Mozilla, or whoever is in charge of developing Thunderbird these days, may be failing to update Thunderbird in the rigorous manner in which an email client must be updated.

Define rigorous. This is a time of change, lots of it after years of stagnation and just keeping the project from going under. Finally new development is occurring and now you want to question the development process. Thunderbird was way more vulnerable 2 or 3 years ago than it is now. In 12 months it will be in an even better position. But few of the V68 legacy addons that were updated will make the leap to V78 next year without significant changes. That process is ongoing, but will hopefully stabilize at that point. See Discussion of the changes for V68 https://developer.thunderbird.net/add-ons/tb68 Discussion of the further changes for V78 https://developer.thunderbird.net/add-ons/tb78

This doubt is additionally fueled by Mozilla's recent statements that Thunderbird development is draining its Firefox development, and that Mozilla is considering dropping Thunderbird. See this ZDnet article: https://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-we-will-keep-thunderbird-after-all-so-long-as-its-not-a-burden-to-firefox/

Did you read the date on that"recent" article. May 10, 2017 -- 12:55. It is years old and is discussing the decision by the Mozilla Foundation to provide a "legal home" for Thunderbird. Note this bit very carefully. The Mozilla foundation is not the Mozilla corporation that makes Firefox. Those that do not know the differences between the Mozilla foundation and the Mozilla corporation often make mistakes about a great many thing around Thunderbird and it's relationship with Mozilla and Firefox.

I suggest something more recent. https://www.thurrott.com/cloud/196755/mozilla-has-big-plans-for-thunderbird-in-2019 Or even https://blog.thunderbird.net/2019/10/thunderbird-enigmail-and-openpgp/

Faced with this doubt, I am now reluctant to upgrade out of Thunderbird 60.9.1 (32-bit), for fear that my email client (Thunderbird) will stop working, or will corrupt my email database !

It appears to be working for just about everyone. There are always add-on issues with each and every update. There has been with every version I have been involved with (starting at 2). There have also been issues caused by anti virus products with every version as well.

What we appear to have here is a group that think addon development and future proofing is the responsibility of the Thunderbird team. That has never been the case. Not with Firefox and not with Thunderbird. But after every significant release there is a thread created about addon whatever does not work how to I go back. This is just another in a long line of them. Nothing is going to change, as build/release has nothing to do with add-ons.

I very much prefer to store my personal emails on a local computer, rather than on cloud servers controlled by another party. And I think most Thunderbird users share that view.

I don't know what most users think, and after some of the things I have read here. I am not sure I want to. Thunderbird enables you to keep your mail locally and with that decision comes a requirement that you accept responsibility for backing up your valuable data. That is is your preference makes it right for you.

So I very much want Mozilla to continue developing and updating Thunderbird, but to do so with due rigor.

Mozilla have not been involved in the day to day development of Thunderbird since 2012. https://blog.lizardwrangler.com/2012/07/06/thunderbird-stability-and-community-innovation/

Go to the web site and see if you can find Mozilla mentioned, except as a host for some activities like this support forum. https://www.thunderbird.net

The about us page explains it. https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/about/

You might also want to view the project WIKI page. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Home

To quote that page.

Thunderbird does not release on specific scheduled dates, because we ship when code is ready and tested. We roughly track (i.e. do not strictly follow**) the ESR release schedule of Firefox.

Those are not the words of people that are not using due rigor. Thunderbird 68 updae role out was delayed months because it was not ready. Many of the folks on this thread go here because they do not use manual update, or they have third party tools like Kaspersky that pushed them to update while the team worked out the wrinkles that came out of the first public downloads from the web site.

Even now updates are trickle fed because there is always the potential for something unknown to appear when software goes public, so only a few percent of users are updated each day. That the product has now been out there for months, nothing alarming has appeared in the last point release, you are dealing with a fairly robust version.

In saying this version is robust, I make no suggestion that any addon author will update an addon to work with it. That is their choice. It does not form a part of the Thunderbird release

To Matt,

Thanks so much for your clear and detailed answer.

Your points and references restored my confidence in Thunderbird.

My Thunderbird upgraded to 68.3.1 yesterday (12/29/2019) and cannot use Google Calendar Provider. Also, I can't enlarge text, which is a serious problem as I have accessibility issues (Theme & Font Size Changer is not compatible). Text appears to be about 10px, and I need it at 18px or greater to be able to read it. The calendar issue is rather terrifying, as it is critical in my work to be able to view co-workers' google calendars, and they mine. Is there a fix coming soon? PLEASE say there is! If not, I may lose my income. Windows 10. Using Lightning.

I was able to get Google Calendar Provider to work by removing the add-on, then reinstalling the 68.2.1 version. Still no solution for the font sizes that don't meet accessibility standards.

Font sizes vary between computers, their settings, settings within Thunderbird and also within emails because many people sending emails will dictate the font size in an email without any consideration that the recipient may have differnt preferences. I upgraded without any problem or changes, but you may find the following works for you. Fortunately there are various ways to improve the font size. So you could try the following:

• 'Menu App' icon (3 lines) > Options > Options > Advanced > 'General' tab
• click on 'Config Editor' button

It may say 'here be dragons' as a type friendly warning to be careful :)

• In top search type: pixels
• Look for this line: layout.css.devPixelsPerPx

The default is -1.0

• Double click on that line to open a small window.
• clear contents and type in eg: 1.2 or 1.25 or 1.5 etc
• click on OK

As you make the changes, the results should be instantly obvious so you can modify until you have the desired result.

Thanks, Toad-Hall, that worked on increasing the font size. Much obliged!

scottzilla said

For me after updating to 68.3.1 TODAY PANE does not roll to the next day. You must now restart Thunderbird at or after midnight. This is a huge pain in the morning before coffee.

I am experiencing this as well. Quite the PIA.

Wayne Mery said

p.s. it would be wise to wait for automatic updates, rather than downloading before an update is provided to you.

I initially let it update automatically and encountered this problem. Since then, I've done both manual updates and auto updates and every single time, it fails to find my profile.

Once I thought it had worked because everything was there, but then I closed Thunderbird and reopened it and everything was gone.

quakerorts If after update, opens on profile, but not showing anything: Suggest you try rebuilding the global database as this has been found to cause issues with a few people.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/rebuilding-global-database

I found a solution thanks to a helpful and knowledgeable redditor:

   Launch TB.
   Enable the menu bar.
   Select Help.
   Select Troubleshooting.
   Scroll down the page and select the about:profiles link.
   Select the original profile as the default profile.
   Close TB.
   Launch TB.
   Repeat the steps to delete the new profile.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Thunderbird/comments/eyhzhj/every_time_i_update_to_68x_all_my_emails_etc_are/fgkx3at/

Note: 'Help' > Troubleshooting Information' is also on the 'Menu app icon', so enabling the 'Menu bar' is not absolutely necessary.

A regular helper on this forum did write this blog which you may find useful as it also contains some good images as a guide. https://thunderbirdtweaks.blogspot.com/