Add option to start Thunderbird on minimized system startup

[francs97]

I would like an option to be able to start #Thunderbird at system startup already minimized or a mode that sends notifications even if the program is closed (kind of like Windows Mail does

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[baxooshi]

I am coming from this thread and wanted such option too. Adding system a system service to keep it running in background which can be added to auto-start too.

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

I voted
Current total 14 kudos

This information
In the meantime, you can try, if you like
Add an app to run automatically at startup in Windows
Add an app to run automatically at startup in Linux
+
Simple Startup Minimize
https://addons.thunderbird.net/thunderbird/addon/simple-startup-minimizer

Installing an Add-on in Thunderbird
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/installing-addon-thunderbird
Enter the add-on's name Simple Startup Minimizer or enough of it to limit the search results returned to a manageable number and press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon
The addons.thunderbird.net page will open in Thunderbird

[Bilal_34860]

I also would like a minimized auto-start option with windows or alternatively a background service to check for new mails in the real-time. A close to tray would also be nice to prevent accidental termination of the program, that way I could keep getting my mails. These two features, I believe, are the most demanded ones currently as many people are moving away from Windows Mail for obvious reasons. 

[AdamNeverwas]

Hi!

I also would like to have a minimized auto-start option, a close to the tray, and a letter icon on the tray area, when new email arrives.

[DRH]

Hi,

I am having to use an addon to get thunderbird to open minimized on windows start. It works ok but it starts thunderbird maximized then minimizes it. I cannot understand why this very obviously useful function has not beeen intergrated into thunderbird years ago. Please build in.

[dwhaley720]

What's the point of having a notification system in your program if you have to manually open it in order to receive them?

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

@Bilal_34860 

Thunderbird Add-on Database Analysis https://thunderbird.github.io/add-on-reports
If you'd like to try KeepRunning https://addons.thunderbird.net/thunderbird/addon/keeprunning

[dinny]

I would like that to 🙂

and if possible an option that the close button minimizes Thunderbird to tray

beceause, me to, if thunderbird is not open, i miss a lot of apointments and tasks...

[PSYHA_IceFire]

@dinnyI agree!

[David88888]

I vote for this feature too.  Thunderbird has a checkbox setting that minimizes the program to the Windows System Tray but it makes no sense why the developers have never written any code to give Thunderbird a checkbox setting that loads Thunderbird at Windows system startup, and another checkbox in settings that silently minimizes Thunderbird to the Windows System Tray at startup. This would be a great feature because the program will then seemlessly integrate at startup and mail notifications can be viewed in this seemless startup. Also, why should the user have to load Thunderbird separately after Windows is fully loaded when the program can load along with the other processes? This is a feature that has been needed for a long time now and I remain hopeful that the programmers will get this task done. Ironically, I was able to accomplish this operation by adding a Thunderbird shortcut to the Windows Startup folder; however, for some reason it no longer will work.  I have tried a couple of the add-ons that load THunderbird minimized, but they load very "clunky" and not seemlessly integrated in Windows.  I have also tried loading a batch file in the Windows Startup folder but it loads laggy and clunky, not seemless, silent, and smoothly integrated. All of the workarounds all stink. How about just getting the Thunderbird programming itself updated with this feature? 

[Mozilla4]

I vote for it too. For Linux and WIN11, please.

@Jon (admin): First of all I would like to strongly point out that Thunderbird is a great email client. Very good work so far. But I do not understand why Thunderbird does not offer...

• the option to autostart in the background at computer start-up or
• the option of being closed into the taskbar. 

I think that at least 50% of all users would like to power-up their computers, start working and being automatically informed about new emails - all this without manually starting Thunderbird. (And yes, I know that Thunderbird may be set to autostart in Linux or WIN11 - but not as a background process for what I know). The two major competitors of Thunderbird are the native mail client of Microsoft in Widows and the native mail client of Apple on iOS/macOS. Both of them offer exactly this kind us usage: They auto start in the background and may be closed into the taskbar after closing. This is kind of a core feature of a mail client. I guess you would like to use Thunderbird extactly that way too, JON, doen't you? Anyways, I found user requesting this features since 2010. There are add-ons whicht try to implement this features with more or less success. But most of us are not that skilled. To give this option by Thunderbird it selft would make life much easier. So why not going one step forward and implementing this core features for now? It is time after all this years. We are counting on you! 🙂

Thanks!

[David88888]

I was able to workaround the Thunderbird program limitation when running in Windows 11 by adding a shortcut to a registry specific startup folder (not the same folder as the default Shell:Startup) and then making sure the program is not set to run as Administrator (default is set not to run as admin) and this prevents the program from bypassing the user-specific shortcut when logging in at system startup.