Thunderbird: Option to disable tabs

[blablabla]

I want my mail client to only have one tab, if i switch to another view, i can go back there by normally opening it again. Sure, some people will see this differently, so i think it would be good, to have an option to disable tabs.

[mhanuszh]

I was about to open a ticket on how to replicate this screenshot from the homepage. But it turns out we cant?

[smartcooky]

I would just settle for a way to have all tabs close on exit - no, not just right clicking on the main tab and choosing close other tabs, I mean having a checkbox in Settings > Reading & Display that would make it default for all tabs to close on exit.

[xpgo]

Thanks for bring up the suggestion, I also hate the tabs bar which waste vertical space, and hope there will be an offical option to auto hide that.

Now I am using TB as an integration platform for all my productive services. Except for the mail and calendar tabs, I also open some tabs for several everyday-use online services, including rss reader, online music, note taking, online diary and so on.

Currently I am using the extension thunderbird-no-tabs, but it will automatically close all tabs except the mail and calendar. So I add some code to the extenstion to implement:

1.  Hide the tabs bar
2. Add my productive services as button to the side panel, so I can switch all the services easily
3. Any other tabs that not related to the buttons on the side panel will be automatically closed when become background to save system resources.

Here is the screenshot, I think it would be great if the feature can be offically supported.

[sb999]

I have several older client that use Thunderbird. I regularly get calls from them saying their email is not working or they can't get emails. What happens is they open messages by double clicking them and get so many tabs opened that they get "lost". They do not understand tabs. I have tried repeatedly to teach them and show them how they work but they just don't get it. There needs to be an option to turn tabs off for people like this.

I did discover that there is an option to open emails in a separate window. That may work for this situation. But there should still be an option to turn the tab function off altogether.

[Toad-Hall]

sb999 says " I have several older client that use Thunderbird..... What happens is they open messages by double clicking them and get so many tabs opened that they get "lost".

This has nothing to do with this tabs option to disable tabs.

Those people are viewing emails using 'threaded'.

When threads are collapsed there is a chevron > on the left of Subject.

If you doulble click on a collapsed thread then you are instructing thundrebird to open all threads in conversion in separate tabs. This is not a new invention. It has always been the method to open all conversion of a collapsed thread in separate tabs.

Do not double click on a collapsed thread and it will not occur.

Expand the collapsed thread by clicking on the > chevron and then you select the correct email in the thread.

But it may be easier for those people to not use threading in the first place, then that issue will never occur.

They need to select folder in Folder Pane eg: Inbox

Then  'View' > 'Sort by' and select 'Unthreaded'

This info should help those people who do not understand threads.

[Higaniga]

Totally agree

[sb999]

@Toad-Hall 

I have my own Thunderbird set up exactly as you described and if I double click an email it opens in a tab. Changing the sort to threaded or unthreaded makes no difference. If you double click an email it opens that email in a tab.

[Flywater]

Yes, but not disable all tabs. Just make the sidebar button work as window switch instead of open a new tab makes more sense, like vs code and many other electron based apps, one part one window.

[UnitedWombats]

I have a user, who is just confused by the tabs... If her Thunderbird window is showing anything other than the familiar mailbox interface -- that's a support call...

Worse, wiith age her vision has deteriorated -- so even finding the ❌ button to close the tab(s) is a challenge... I'd much rather just disable the tabs-functionality for good in her installation, even though I'm using them on my own desktop regularly.

[sb999]

This. So much this! When my mostly older users see anything other than what they are used to, they either click themselves in to tab hell, call me, or both. Please allow us to turn this feature off for users that are unable to understand it.

[LiXCE]

Just installed 133, USELESS tabs are still there and none of the extensions to remove them work.  Going to continue to use BetterBird where this is a non-issue (just set tab bar to vertical).

[Lt-P]

Developers Are Not the Default User: and Mozilla Should Know Better

After reading through the recent discussions and reflecting on them, both from a human-interaction perspective and from years working in high-end tactical and strategic IT, I’m honestly surprised. Whether software is open-source or closed-source, the mindset I’m seeing is disturbingly similar.

We like to pretend IT is about freedom of choice. In practice, we often behave as if there is only one “correct” user.

Reality check: users are wildly different. Some are elderly and still enjoy computing. Some have disabilities, attention disorders, or compulsive behaviors. Some can’t afford a large monitor and work on small screens. Others tinker on a 10" Linux tablet. That diversity is not a corner case: that’s the norm. Computing was supposed to be a platform for all kinds of users and use cases.

This is where things start going wrong.

I know these people personally: friends, colleagues, senior engineers. Brilliant “nerds.” Talking to them can be difficult; introducing new ideas even more so. Many operate inside a very narrow definition of reality: their own. They can perfectly imagine their ideal OS or workflow (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android) but often lose sight of how other people actually use technology.

Worse, there’s an unwritten but very real rule in parts of tech culture: “Most users are too stupid.” Users’ competence, sanity, or intelligence gets questioned instead of the design. I’ve seen this repeatedly, especially among highly capable but socially impaired developers. It’s worrying.

Linux is the classic example. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard “RTFM” or “If you’re too stupid to use Linux, don’t use it.” And now, frankly, I see echoes of the same attitude creeping into Mozilla discussions.

There are two real problems here.

First: forced, constant interface churn. The ADHD-style obsession with redesigning UI every major release: new layouts, moved buttons, removed features. This is the difference between toy-grade IT and operational technology. In real systems (industrial, aerospace, military) muscle memory matters. People train. They build proficiency over time. Random change is a tax on users. Thankfully, Firefox has mostly avoided the worst of this.

Second: the dinosaurs.
“It worked before, so why change?” (Often meaning: it works for me.)

If you run 60+ tabs, reboot only when a kernel update forces you to, sit on 128 GB RAM and multiple terabytes of SSD, live inside vim, VS Code, Qt Creator, or a terminal full of custom-compiled tools: you are not the default user. You have god-mode privileges in IT terms. That does not give you license to ignore everyone else, especially vulnerable users or those with special needs.

This is the part I genuinely don’t understand: developers know people struggle with focus, reading, and overstimulation. Aging users. Users with vision issues. Users with ADHD. Brilliant autistic minds who shut down when confronted with visual noise and endless options. Yet we still design as if complexity is a virtue and minimal accommodation is optional.

It doesn’t have to be extreme. How hard would it be to offer modes?

• A tabless / focus-first interface toggle as an optional or “pro” feature for all "modes"

• A simplified UI mode (for the ones that need clarity and simplicity)

• A business / productivity-oriented layout mode (focussed on workflows, such as GTD and some other methodologies or just "customizable")

• a technical / pro-user layout mode (current version)

And yes: absolutely keep the fully customizable tweak-everything interface. Don’t remove it. Power users need it (I love it myself).

But here’s the key point: stop designing primarily for yourselves. Developers are not the audience. They are a minority with exceptional tolerance for complexity.

Demographics are not opinions. The population in the West, Japan, China (everywhere) is aging. This isn’t about “thinking different.” It’s about acting different.

Mozilla, of all organizations, should understand that freedom of choice only exists if people can actually use the software. Not only the developers, not only the tech savvy people, but also the business people, the neurodivergents, the seniors ... Perhaps time to rethink certain design strategies.