Thunderbird 102 Released: A Serious Upgrade To Your Communication

Thunderbird 102 is here! On behalf of the entire Thunderbird team, I’m thrilled to announce the availability of our major yearly release. Thunderbird 102 is loaded with highly-requested features, and we think you’ll be delighted by them.

It features refreshed icons, color folders, and quality-of-life upgrades like the redesigned message header. It ushers in a brand new Address Book to bring you closer than ever to the people you communicate with. Plus useful new tools to help you manage your data, navigate the app faster, and boost your productivity. We’re even bringing Matrix to the party!

[Press friends: we also have a press release with lots of screenshots and GIFs for you right here.]

Thunderbird 102 is available to download right now for our global community of 20M+ Linux, macOS, and Windows users. (Using Thunderbird 91 and don’t need an immediate upgrade? Your client should automatically update within the next few weeks as we gradually roll it out.)

Let’s talk about some of the best new features in Thunderbird 102.

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NEW ADDRESS BOOK: YOUR CONTACTS GET A SERIOUS UPGRADE IN THUNDERBIRD 102

You don’t communicate with contacts, you communicate with people. That’s why Thunderbird 102 gives you one of the best tools to better track and interact with all the important people in your life.

New Contact layout in Thunderbird 102

Basic contact view in dark/light modes (Shown here on Linux)

One of Thunderbird 102’s headlining features is the new Address Book, which represents the first of many steps towards a new, modernized direction for Thunderbird’s UX/UI. The redesigned Address Book delivers a clean visual presentation and several new information fields to help you better understand who you’re communicating with. It’s also compatible with vCard specs, the industry standard for saving contacts. If your app (like Google Contacts) or device (like an Android smartphone) can export existing contacts to vCard format, Thunderbird can effortlessly import them. Finally, the new Address Book acts as a one-stop launchpad for messaging or event creation with each of your contacts.

New Spaces Toolbar: Get There Faster

Thunderbird now features a central Spaces Toolbar for fast and easy access to your most important activities inside the application: With a single click, you can navigate between Mail, Address Book, Calendar, Tasks, Chat, and your installed add-ons. And if you feel like adapting Thunderbird to your personal preferences, there’s a button for Settings, too!

New Import / Export Wizard: Move Data With Ease

Thunderbird 102’s Import / Export Wizard (shown here on Linux)

Moving accounts and data in and out of Thunderbird should be a breeze! Previously, this required the installation and use of add-ons, but the Thunderbird team is thrilled to share that it’s now a core, built-in feature. A step-by-step wizard provides a contextual, guided experience for importing your important data. This means that moving from Outlook, SeaMonkey, or another Thunderbird installation is easier than ever.

Redesigned Message Header: Focus On What Matters

Message Header: TRANSFORM!

One of the core philosophies behind the development of Thunderbird 102 was doing more with less. Now, when reading your email, the redesigned message header allows you to focus on what matters as it highlights important information. It’s also more responsive and easier to navigate. Plus, you can “star” important messages from the header itself, and convert them into a calendar event or a task.

Matrix Chat Support: Decentralized Communication For Everyone

The Thunderbird team loves open source and open standards. That’s why you’ll find out-of-box support for the popular, decentralized chat protocol Matrix in Thunderbird 102. Matrix provides secure messaging, VOIP, and data transfer capabilities and is rapidly expanding its feature-set. 

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We hope you love using it as much as we love building it! And there’s still more to come as Thunderbird 102’s development evolves! Complete details of all the changes can be found in the Thunderbird release notes for version 102 and newer.