Betterbird Blog

We've shipped Betterbird 140.4.0esr-bb13 today. Please refer to the Release Notes for the full details.

Once again, we've addressed issues reported by users in the last two weeks.

One user wrote to us that they wanted to get more information about the path of a folder, so we added a tooltip to the message list header. The Thunderbird folks jumped onto the bandwagon, dusted off an ancient bug from 2007, and added a tooltip in the folder pane as well. But of course the improvement is already available for Betterbird users while at Thunderbird, they're still thinking about it.

One request about suppressing an unnecessary prompt when opening a link in the compose window came is so late, that half the release had already left the station. So apologies to the Mac users who will have to wait for the next release. But then, most users might not know the feature in the first place or are not too bothered to answer the additional prompt.

Of course the Betterbird-native new mail alert on wrong monitor issue, which had crept into the previous release, was fixed as well. UPDATE: That was wishful thinking, yet again, we had to prepare a "latest build" one day after the release to really fix it. Here it is in English and German.

Detaching an attachment didn't work since the beginning of the 140 series months ago, and only one user noticed?

Finally, it's worth mentioning that when saving a message using its subject as file name, the same file name sanitation is now applied on all platforms. Trigger was a user report that Windows volumes mounted on Linux need the Windows rules applied, not the Linux rules.

On 1st October 2025 we stopped accepting USD donations via PayPal. Here's why. To begin with, PayPal changes a whopping 4.89% (base 2.90% + 1.99% US surcharge) + 0.30 USD fixed fee. As an example: On 50 USD they change 2.75%, so effectively 5.5%. And that's not where it stops. With a PayPal account in Europe we are forced to convert USD to Euros at PayPal's atrocious conversion rates. That's were they pocket another 3% of markup. So effectively, for USD donations, PayPal help themselves to 8.5% of the incoming funds.

A while ago we researched ways of transferring the USD to an account or debit card denominated in USD. For starters, our European PayPal account does't allow linking to a USD denominated bank account, they only allow you to link Euro accounts from European banks.

When trying to "push" funds into a VISA debit card, PayPay stops such transfers with dubious error messages, like you can see in the picture: "We're sorry but we were unable to approve your request to transfer $XXXX.00 USD to your card". During the transaction, we see this: And we're not the only ones. The message varies, see this Reddit post:
"There's a problem. Right now, we are not able to complete this transaction" (from Feb. 2024)
"These can't be used for Instant Transfers: Revolut Bank UAB" (July 2024)
but the facts are the same: PayPal wants to enforce their additional fee.

UPDATE: We talked to three PayPal customer fooling agents, and these were their statements:

• Number 1: We at PayPal did everything correctly, the credit card company declined the deposit.
• Number 2: Change the account's main currency to USD and wait two hours, I will call you back. They never did, and their suggestion didn't work.
• Number 3: We received a lecture that the currency in Spain was the Euro and that it was therefore simply not possible to transfer anything out except in Euros.

So two ignorants and one outright condescending.

UPDATE 2A: We filed a complaint and this was there answer:

I see you have tried to complete a fast withdrawal to your card X-xxxx several times but have been unsuccessful. However, this is not due to your PayPal account having some kind of restriction or block for this process. [...] The reason for this error could be that, since it is a fast withdrawal, in which we need an immediate response from your bank, due to not receiving a prompt response from their system, the process fails, and it cannot be completed. This is something rather common with cards issued by international online banks [...].

Then they went on to suggest converting the USD to Euros at 3% commission and transferring them out via the bank account option.

UPDATE 2B: Yet another PayPal answer saying the same thing:

Keep in mind, this does not mean there is something wrong with your card, it's simply that the system determines automatically whether a card can receive a transfer from our accounts or not, if you do not see it listed, or you see an error when trying to select the card for the withdrawal, it is due to it not being compatible with that process in PayPal. In this case, I'd recommend you use your bank account linked to PayPal so you can transfer this balance.

UPDATE 3: Answer from the so-called "international online bank":

Although PayPal allows sending money to Debit or Credit cards, [the bank] only accepts transfers [using] account details, not to the card’s 16-digit number.

So we don't have 100% certainty, but it looks like PayPal did the "right thing", however, it conveniently for them didn't match with the receiving system. Still, it doesn't excuse the mind-blowing (quoted from the Reddit post) exchange rate they apply and the fact that they only allow linking Euro accounts.

UPDATE 4: We tried to link three more different credit cards, but those were rejected right away, two of them seen here:

We're in the process of closing PayPal altogether and setting up Revolut instead.

Note: Screenshot of a genuine PayPal e-mail (logo cropped/blurred for trademark reasons)

After the preparations described in an earlier post, we've shipped Betterbird 140.3.1esr-bb12 today. Please refer to the Release Notes for the full details.

This release contains a lot of fixes for issues raised by our users in the last two weeks. The upstream Thunderbird release 140.3.1 also contains more fixes than usual. Six of those fixes had already shipped in Betterbird earlier.

Update a few hours later: There is no release without some sort of issue. We just got a report that native new mail alerts, so not system alerts, are displayed at the right corner of the right monitor in a dual-monitor when before they are displayed at the right corner of the left monitor.

Here's what happened: As stated in the Release Notes, we tried to mitigate random flashing of Betterbird-native new mail alert in top left corner of the screen. So after creating the window, we now move it "off-screen", but it may end up on a monitor to the right and finally at its corner. A picture says more than 1000 words: Some users may work around the issue by setting the preference mail.notification.show_on_app_screen. If you're affected, please let us know and we'll provide a solution.

Or you can try the latest build for Windows in English. Yes, how ironic, a "latest build" on the day of the release.

Today we're presenting fourteen features that don't exist in Thunderbird, although requests date back to 1999.

Main window:

• Like in every regular application, the menu bar is at the top of the main window. It's surprising that Thunderbird broke that rule in Supernova-Kaboom and users are now struggling with userChrome.css to get it back where it belongs.
• Equally, Supernova-Kaboom got rid of the message counts in the status bar, a UI element which had existed for more than 20 years.
• Betterbird's Windows and Linux system tray icon offer a tooltip, so you can see at a glance in which folders to find new messages.

Improvements for people who like it tidy:

• Some people want Betterbird always start on the same folder, most likely an inbox or unified inbox, no matter which folder was open when they closed the application. That's why Betterbird offers a startup folder.
• Some people open many messages in tab, but they don't want to see those messages again after a restart. That's why Betterbird offers optional tab restore.
• For people with very wide screens there are vertical tabs.
• People with many accounts appreciate Betterbird's implementation of account colours. The old add-on doesn't work any more, and Thunderbird's own implementation leaves much to be desired.

Message list, aka thread pane:

• Long before Thunderbird introduced its space-wasting cards view, Betterbird offered a multi-line view like in Outlook. Individual columns are still present, only the message subject has moved to the second line.
• Many users don't know that there is a secondary sort, that is, you can sort by one column and then by another. That why we're showing secondary sort indicators.
• Ever selected more than one message or a collapsed thread (multi-select) and wondered about the not-so-useful summary view? It can be turned off in Betterbird, so the message shown is the last selected message.

Threading improvements:

• People who use a threaded view appreciate Betterbird's connecting lines that had been used for two decades before they became another Supernova-Kaboom casualty.
• Betterbird also offers reversed threading, so when sort be date descending (newest message on top), the threads are also sorted that way.

Finally, rethreading and message editing:

• Rethreading: In a threaded view, messages can be moved to a different thread, or removed from a thread. In folders containing feed articles, these can also be grouped into threads.
• The subject and other message headers can be edited. This functionality is available via add-ons, but it's better to have it in the toolbox.

Some Mondays are quiet, others are busy. Yesterday we had a very busy day fixing these bugs:

1. Edit headers not working for local folders with maildir storage.
2. Developer Toolbox not working in localised builds due to a repack error.
3. Custom icon not working on about box and some other panels.
4. Disappearing new lines in plain text edit. We picked up the report from a newsgroup. This was a bug in the upstream Mozilla editor.
5. Account colours not respecting the preference for "full row colour" due an error in rebasing our patch to the 140 codebase.

We provided "latest build" versions of the current version 140.3.0, so affected users can use a fixed version straight away.

In the context of testing Edit headers, we discovered and upstream Thunderbird bug which led to the second edit on the same IMAP message not being reflected correctly in the message list and header pane. A regression in the Thunderbird 140 codebase, it was working in 115 and 128. The add-on Header Tools Improved is also affected. That bug we didn't manage to fix yet. (Update 28 Sept. 2025: Fixed!)

Betterbird improves your workflow and saves you time. Here are some examples from the message compose window:

1. You've been working in a document and want to send it out to a colleague? Just pick it from the Recent File(s) menu.
2. You have a Windows shortcut on your desktop to a document you want to send out? Just drag the shortcut onto the compose window, and it will attach the target file automatically.
3. You can still show attachments "on top" in the header area, as it used to be, rather than beneath the message body.
4. There is a link in the body of your message you want to check. Due to restrictions in the Mozilla platform code, you can't click on it, but you can open the link in the browser via the context menu.

Those four features don't exist in Thunderbird, although requests date back to 2005.

Add-ons are a great way to enhance the functionality of the compose window. We recommend the following:

1. Our own ThunderHTMLedit to fix some quirks in the HTML the Mozilla editor produces.
2. Signature Switch to manage and switch multiple signatures.
3. LanguageTool to check grammar and spelling.
4. QuickText to insert text blocks into your messages. We don't promote pre-canned replies, but we support reducing repetitive insertion tasks.
5. Mail Merge, if you need to stay in touch with many people.

People who have looked at Betterbird's feature table already know that Betterbird has implemented many features Thunderbird users have only been dreaming of since 1999. Here are a few highlights — and remember, Betterbird only started in 2021:

But this is not the subject of this article. We'd rather talk about some recent requests and the turnaround time until the users had a working solution:

These quick turnarounds are possible thanks to users who report issues and suggest improvements. And if something can be done, it gets done.

In the 1980s, American Forces Network (AFN) Radio Berlin aired a few sketches based on the adventures of Betty Fishwish. Here is one of them:

Wednesday, 1:15 pm. I knocked on the door of Mrs. Betty Fishwish:

F: Yeah, who is it? And what do you want?
L: Open up Mrs. Fishwish, this is the library. Come out with your overdue books and no one will get hurt.
F: Overdue books? I don’ t have any overdue books, so I’m innocent.
L: I don't believe you, Mrs. Fishwish. Let me see the due dates on your books.
F: Here you go.
L: Hmm, let’s see: Due last week, due last month, due two years ago, Mrs. Fishwish!
F: Ah, I believe that’s my own.
L: They’re all overdue, Mrs. Fishwish.
F: Isn’t that my book?
L: They’re all from the library and and they’re overdue, Mrs. Fishwish.
F: Look’s like I'm guilty.
L: You certainly are. Remember, Mrs. Fishwish: When your books are due, return then to the library, so the next guy can enjoy them.

The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. Mrs. Betty Fishwish was found guilty of book-napping and is now serving a three-to-five-year sentence in the main library mopping floors.

Does this remind anyone of… overdue bugs?

(Updated 18th September 2025)

The Betterbird project receives roughly half its donations from North America and the other half from Europe, predominantly Germany. At first glance, it might seem logical to register Betterbird as a charitable organisation. However, there is no single legal form that works across all jurisdictions: if Betterbird were charitable in Germany, that status would not automatically apply in the United States, and vice versa. A choice would have to be made, leaving half of our donors without tax benefits.

At present, the project has its fiscal residence in Spain (with a sea view). Registering a charitable organisation in Spain is particularly challenging: you need substantial start-up capital and at least three founding members. Even then, the benefits would be limited to the comparatively few Spanish donors, and not extend to those in Germany or elsewhere.

Looking ahead, Betterbird may shift its fiscal residence to Germany. There we have explored several possible structures:

• a registered association (eingetragener Verein, or e.V.)
• a charitable limited liability company (gemeinnützige GmbH, or gGmbH)
• its smaller sibling, the gemeinnützige Unternehmergesellschaft (gUG).

Even the simplest of these, the gUG, comes with hurdles. The administrative overhead is high, especially with many small donations. Some people give as little as €1 per month — which is wonderful support, but from an administrative perspective it means Betterbird would have to track these payments, and issue an official end-of-year tax receipt for €12. Multiply that by hundreds of donors, and you can imagine the paperwork nightmare.

There are also restrictions on how donations can be spent. In Germany, charitable organisations are expected to use the vast majority of funds directly for their charitable purpose. While staff can be paid, salaries must be “reasonable” and proportional to the organisation’s income. In practice, only part of the donations can go to staff salaries — a common benchmark is around 70%. If nearly everything went into the CEO’s pocket, alarm bells would ring with the tax authorities. The remaining funds are supposed to cover infrastructure, contractors, community outreach, or similar costs. For a lean project like Betterbird, that would mean spending donations on things we don’t really need, just to satisfy bureaucracy.

For now, the most practical solution is to keep Betterbird simple: run it as an independent project funded by voluntary donations. That allows us to spend more time improving the software rather than satisfying bureaucracy.

In the long term, if donations grow and the administrative investment makes sense, Betterbird may well adopt a charitable structure in Germany. But today, given the modest level of income, a charitable structure would add more overhead than benefit.

Let’s keep in mind that Thunderbird’s fiscal home, Mozilla’s wholly owned subsidiary MZLA, is a for-profit company. On its donation page, the term “donation” is often replaced by “gift,” for example: Gifts to Thunderbird are not tax-deductible as charitable gifts, but are greatly appreciated!

This article was partly created with the help of AI, however, manual adjustments were made where needed.

We often get asked how many people participate in the project.

Leading the project is Jörg, who served as Thunderbird's first employee as well as maintainer and release engineer from 2016 to 2019. In addition, a seasoned Thunderbird contributor has provided many of the improvements. There are people who send the occasional patch, they are not always visible on GitHub since we commit their work after revision.

Others maintain platform distributions such as Flatpak, Arch Linux, Winget, and Chocolatey, and one volunteer compiles for the ARM processor of Android devices.

We have translators for Czech, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Swedish and Chinese (listed in alphabetical order by locale code).

We're in personal contact with many of our users who point out bugs, motivate improvements, do testing, and also file upstream bugs on Thunderbird's bug tracker Bugzilla. Sometimes the Thunderbird folks get interested in those bugs and we can include their fixes earlier than they do.

Our project is rather humble, we don't have the many millions the Thunderbird team can rely on. We don't have ~50 staff (amongst them four directors, nine managers, one coordinator and five "specialists"), and we don't have access to the Mozilla server farm used in Mozilla's automation.

Our hardware is rather humble: One Windows build machine, a fast Asus NUC 15 Pro Plus (see picture), and two Mac Minis (Intel + Silicon) for the Mac builds. Linux is compiled in a VM on Windows. This setup makes the project quite flexible; over the years we've shipped releases from three countries on two continents.