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

[Jonylentz]

Hey, @SonicGold I've tried the shortcut method, but it simply does not work for me, I also tried creating a task in taskscheduler and running TB from cmd directly with a minimized flag but in all cases ThunderBird starts maximized no matter what I do...
I'm on windows 11 23H2, and I have tried the same thing earlier this year with no success, so I imagine it's not the case of a windows update breaking things
I still think this should be a native feature of ThunderBird as most modern software have this option...

[eduardom]

it would be hella nice if these features are added natively to Thunderbird on Windows:

• Start on windows startup

• Minimize to system tray upon startup

• Minimize to system tray when closing (clicking the top right 'X' close button)

[Jon]

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)

[ubiquitous_mela]

bump. it imperative to have such basic functionalities in thunderbird in 2024.

[PSYHA_IceFire]

@dinnyI agree!

[OasisT]

Dear Thunderbird Team,

I am a regular user of Thunderbird and greatly appreciate its features and reliability as an email client. However, I’ve noticed that there is no built-in option to set Thunderbird to start automatically when my computer boots up. Currently, users like me have to manually configure this through operating system settings (e.g., Windows startup folder or macOS login items), which can be inconvenient and less intuitive, especially for those less familiar with technical workarounds.

I’d like to suggest adding a simple toggle option in Thunderbird’s settings, such as “Start Thunderbird automatically on computer boot,” to make this process easier. This feature would offer several benefits:

• Convenience: Users could access their emails immediately without manually launching the app each time.
• Consistency: Many other applications, including email clients, offer this option, aligning with user expectations.
• User Control: It would empower users to decide whether they want Thunderbird to auto-start based on their needs.

I understand there might be concerns about performance or security with auto-starting an application. To address this, the feature could be optional (disabled by default), allowing users to enable it only if desired. Implementation could involve integrating with standard OS startup mechanisms, which seems feasible given Thunderbird’s cross-platform support.

This small addition could significantly enhance the user experience, making Thunderbird even more user-friendly. I hope you’ll consider this suggestion, and I’d be happy to see it discussed or voted on by the community.

Thank you for your time and for continually improving Thunderbird!

Best regards,
Oasis Tian

[Jon]

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

[Malapert]

In settings, Thunderbird even has a checkbox for "When minimized, send to tray" and mine is checked but it does not do this in Windows 11.  Is this a Win 11 compatibility issue??  No one has mentioned this with another system yet. Thunderbird on my previous build did minimize to tray just fine.

[nyet]

Close to tray makes more sense than minimize to tray

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-us/thunderbird/addon/minimize-on-close/

but this one no longer works

[heksesang]

@MalapertThunderbird 136.0 does minimize to tray on Windows 11 for me.

[J-MARTINAU]

Sous Windows 11 :
Faire un raccourci de : (path sous lequel Thunderbird est installé)
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe"

Recopier le raccourci sous :
"C:\Users\[votre user]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\[votre raccourci]

[kinkles]

I'm shocked that Thunderbird has been around this long without this option.

[Alfriedo]

@heksesang but only on minimizing, no? If I hit close, its closed. I'd love to have both minimize to tray, or at least to have the ability to have a background process checking for new mails.

[heksesang]

@AlfriedoYes, only on minimize. I agree it would be nice to have it work for both; IMO things in the system tray are things that should run in the background more like a daemon and should be closed from there.

They might want to rethink the design to act more like a daemon/background process which the interface can connect to.

[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?