Add an “Unthread Message” command to Thunderbird

[dfhgdhgf]

I would like to request a simple, built-in way to detach an individual email from an existing conversation thread.

Problem

I replied to an older email using “Reply All”, but changed the subject because I wanted to start a new, independent conversation. Thunderbird continued to display the message as a child of the original email, even though the subject had changed.

What I tried

• Changed the subject line.
• Used Header Tools Improved to remove the References and In-Reply-To headers.
• Repaired the Inbox folder.
• Moved and copied the message to other folders.
• Checked mail.strict_threading, which was already set to true.

None of these steps resolved the problem.

What finally worked

I had to edit the actual message source using Header Tools Improved and remove the References and In-Reply-To headers manually. The Message-ID had to remain intact. Only after the headers were actually removed from the stored message source did the message become independent of the original thread.

Suggested improvement

Please add a built-in command such as “Detach from Thread” or “Treat as Independent Message” to the message context menu.

The command should remove the relevant thread references while preserving the message's own Message-ID and other essential headers. Thunderbird should then update its thread database accordingly.

Users should not have to install an extension, edit raw message source, or rebuild folder indexes to perform such a basic email-management task.

Thank you for considering this improvement.

Best regards

[Jon]

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