Request for Restoration of Find Bar Match Count (Functional Regression

[masmiranda]

)

Dear Thunderbird Development Team,

I am writing to formally report and request the restoration of a previously available feature that appears to have been removed in recent versions of Thunderbird: the display of the match count in the find bar (e.g., “3 of 10”).

This functionality is not merely a convenience—it is critical for professional workflows that rely on precise text navigation within email content. The ability to identify both the number of occurrences and the current position of a searched term significantly enhances efficiency, accuracy, and usability.

In particular, legal professionals in Brazil depend heavily on this feature. Lawyers frequently receive high volumes of email communications containing official publications and legal notices. It is common practice to search for their own names within lengthy messages or aggregated content. The match count allows them to:

• Determine how many times their name appears in a message
• Navigate directly to each occurrence with contextual awareness
• Confirm whether all relevant mentions have been reviewed

The removal of this feature represents a clear functional regression. Without it, the process becomes inefficient, error-prone, and, in many cases, impractical for professional use.

As a direct consequence, users are being forced to adopt workarounds such as downgrading to Thunderbird ESR and actively blocking updates in order to preserve this essential capability. This is not a sustainable or desirable solution.

Given that this feature existed in previous versions, its absence suggests that it may not have been intentionally deprecated, but rather not carried over during interface or architectural changes.

For these reasons, I respectfully request:

1. The reinstatement of the find bar match count feature
2. Consideration of its importance in professional and high-volume email use cases
3. Clarification on whether its removal was intentional or a regression

Restoring this functionality would significantly improve usability and reaffirm Thunderbird’s suitability for professional environments.
(archlinux, plasma wayland)

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Jon]

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

[Steve2002]

I agree.  Having the match count is a time saver!