This section describes the main Mail & Newsgroups preferences. If you
are not already viewing the Mail & Newsgroups main preferences, follow
these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the
Preferences dialog box.
Click the Mail & Newsgroups category.
Confirm when moving folders to the Trash: Choose to
allow Mail & Newsgroups to prompt you before deleting folders.
Remember the last selected message: Choose this option
if you want &brandShortName; to select the message you had selected last
before leaving a folder when you reenter a folder.
Preserve threading when sorting messages: Select this
option if you want &brandShortName; to preserve the threaded message
grouping
when
sorting messages. If it is not selected, &brandShortName; automatically
displays the messages unthreaded when you sort them by clicking on the
column headers.
Hide the mail tab bar when only one tab is open: Select
this to display the Tabbed Mail bar only when more then one mail tab is
open.
Switch to new tabs when opened: Select this to make
&brandShortName; switch to the new tab when opened using Open in New
Tab or Open Message in New Tab context menu options.
Only check for new mail after opening Mail &
Newsgroups: By default, &brandShortName; checks for new messages
even if only a browser window is open. Choose this option if you want to
delay checking for new messages until after the Mail & Newsgroups window
has been opened at least once (be it automatically on startup or
manually).
Open tabs instead of windows for:
Middle-click or
Cmd+ReturnCtrl+Enter on a message
or a folder: Select this to open messages or folders in a new
tab when clicking with the middle mouse button or holding down the
CommandCtrl key and
pressing ReturnEnter.
Double-click on a message: Select this to open
messages in a new tab when double-clicking on them.
When Mail launches, show the Start Page in the message
area: Select this to enable the Start Page. The Start Page
appears in the message area when you first open &brandShortName; Mail &
Newsgroups. This page is the default page, but you can enter a different
web page or URL of your choice. To disable the Start Page, deselect this
option. Click Restore Default to return to the original page provided by
&brandShortName;.
Message Display preferences allow you to choose how messages are displayed
in all accounts. If you are not already viewing the Message Display settings,
follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the
Preferences dialog box.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Message Display. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list.)
When opening messages, display them in: These options
control the behavior when opening messages in a separate window, e.g., by
double-clicking on it in the message list of a folder:
A new message window: Choose this if you want to
open each message in a new window.
An existing message window: Choose this if you want
to reuse an already opened message window for the next mail.
Close message window when deleting a message: Check
this if you want the message window to be closed automatically when
the message you are viewing in it is deleted.
Block images and other content from remote sources:
Select this checkbox if you do not want to display remote images and other
content in received messages, except from senders in your address books
whom you have allowed. (This checkbox is selected by default.)
Show only display name for people in my address book:
Check this if you want to save some space in the message headers where
email addresses are shown. If selected, known senders and recipients are
only listed with their display names, their email addresses are hidden.
You can see the full email addresses when hovering over such entries with
the mouse.
Automatically mark messages as read: Check this option
to mark messages as read once they are opened. (This checkbox is selected
by default.)
Only after displaying for [__] seconds: Check this
option if you do not want a message to be marked as read when you are
only taking a brief look at it. Enter the number of seconds you want a
message to be displayed before it gets marked as read automatically.
If this box is not checked, messages are marked as read as soon as
they are opened.
Plain Text Messages: These settings control how
plain-text messages are displayed. These options do not have any effect
when viewing HTML (rich-text) messages, or when writing new messages.
Font: Select the font you prefer for viewing
plain-text messages: fixed width or variable width.
Wrap text to fit window width: Select this so that
incoming messages are word-wrapped to fit the width of your Mail
window.
Display emoticons as graphics: Select this so that
when you receive messages that contain emoticons (also called smiley
faces) Mail & Newsgroups can convert them to graphics, for example:
This:
Converts to:
:-)
:)
:-(
:(
;-)
;-p
This option also controls some common plain-text formatting conventions:
This:
Displays as:
mm^2
mm2
+/-1
±1
Settings for quoted messages: Choose a different
font style, size, and/or color for quoted plain-text messages to more
easily distinguish quoted text (usually the content of a message for
which the sender replied to you, or quoted parts of a message you
replied to).
Notification preferences allow you to select different methods for informing
you on arrival of a new message. So you don't have to always look in the
folders.
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Notifications. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list.)
Show an alert for [__] seconds: Select this if you want
&brandShortName; Mail & Newsgroups to display an alert on your desktop
when new messages arrive. This alert is usually located above your system
tray in the lower right corner of your screen. The alert only appears once
when new messages arrive, stays for the specified amount of time, and
won't appear again until you have visited one of your folders with new
mail, read one of the new messages, or checked for new messages manually.
New mail desktop alert
The following options determine which message-specific items are shown in
the alert for each new message:
Show a preview of the message text: Check this to
show the first few words of the message received in the alert.
Show the subject: Check this to show the subject
line of the message in the alert.
Show the sender: Check this to show the sender's
name or email address in the alert.
Use the operating system's desktop
notifications: Select this to use the operating system's
notification system (e.g., libnotify), if available. Note that some
configuration options for the alert message may not be supported.
Use &brandShortName;'s own notification
windows: Select this to use the built-in
XUL-based notification system for
new-mail alerts. All configuration options are supported.
When the alert appears, clicking an entry for a message will take you
to the respective folder and opens that message. You can close the alert
using the x button.
The new message alert will continue to work even after you close the
Mail window (as long as another &brandShortName; window is open).
Show a tray icon: Select this if you want
&brandShortName; Mail & Newsgroups to display an icon in your system
tray (which is usually found in the lower right corner of your screen) when
new messages arrive. This icon will stay in the system tray until you have
visited one of your folders with new mail, read one of the new messages,
or checked for new messages manually.
New mail tray icon
When the icon appears, double-clicking it will open the &brandShortName;
Mail & Newsgroups main window.
Note: On Windows 7 and above, the Notification Area
Icons settings for &brandShortName; must read Show icon and
notifications for the icon to stay visible. Otherwise, it may be
hidden after a short period of time.
Show a balloon alert: As an alternative to the
desktop alert described above, you can use the operating system's
balloon notification. When new mail arrives, this will show the icon
along with a balloon indicating the number of new messages available
for the account.
Balloon alert
When the balloon appears, clicking into it will open the Main &
Newsgroup main window. The duration of the balloon alert depends on
the respective setting in your operating system. You can close the
balloon using the x button.
The new message alert will continue to work even after you close the
Mail window (as long as another &brandShortName; window is open).
Note: Show an alert for [__] seconds and
Show a balloon alert cannot be selected at the same time.
Checking one option will uncheck the other.
Animate the Dock icon: Select this if you
want Mail & Newsgroups to bounce the &brandShortName; Dock icon when
new messages arrive.
Play a sound: Select this if you want &brandShortName;
Mail & Newsgroups to play a sound when new messages arrive. You can
choose between the default system sound and a custom sound in WAV format.
If you choose the latter, use the Browse button to select the sound file in
the file locator. Click on the Play button to listen to the chosen sound
file.
Once &brandShortName; Mail has been started, the new messages sound will
continue to work even after you close the Mail window (as long as another
&brandShortName; window is open).
Composition preferences affect how you create messages (for example,
forwarding options and address autocompletion) in all accounts. If you are
not already viewing the Composition settings, follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Composition. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list.)
Forward Messages: Choose how you want forwarded
message text to appear: as an attachment or inline (in the body of your
message).
Quote attachments viewed inline in replies: If this
option is checked, then attachments (such as images, text, or messages)
viewed inline are included in the quote when replying to an email.
Automatically save the message every [__] minutes:
Choose this option if you want Mail & Newsgroups to save the message
you are currently composing automatically at the given interval. After a
computer crash or program failure you can find the latest saved version of
the message in your Drafts folder.
Confirm when using keyboard shortcut to send message:
Check this option if want to be asked if you're sure to be ready to
send the message when you're pressing Ctrl+Enter in message editor.
This may help you avoid accidentally sending the message if you enter the
keyboard shortcut by mistake when composing a message.
Select reply header type:
Select the type of reply header you wish to use. There are four choices
available:
No Reply Header
[Author] wrote:
This setting is based on the mailnews.reply_header_authorwrotesingle
preference.
On [date], [Author] wrote:
This setting is based on the mailnews.reply_header_ondateauthorwrote
preference.
[Author] wrote on [date]:
This setting is based on the mailnews.reply_header_authorwroteondate
preference.
Wrap plain text messages at [__] characters: Enter a
number to set the right margin for text in the message area.
Defaults for HTML Messages: Here you can define what the
defaults are for font, size, text and background color if you choose to
send mails in HTML format.
Default composition format: Select the initial style
for composing messages. With Body Text format, the Enter key always
inserts just a new line, while with Paragraph format, the Enter key
opens a new paragraph with additional line spacing. Use Shift+Enter to
insert just a plain line break regardless of this setting.
Send Format preferences allow you to specify how you want to format your
outgoing messages. If you are not already viewing the Send Format settings,
follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the
Preferences dialog box.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Send Format. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list.)
Formatted messages (composed in HTML) can be sent as HTML, plain text, or
both (those composed in plain text will always be sent as plain text only).
If any of the recipients isn't explicitly listed to receive HTML,
based on his or her address-book entry or on a domain-based setting as
explained below, the following options apply:
Ask me what to do: This option requires Mail &
Newsgroups to prompt you to choose a format before you send the
message.
Convert the message to plain text: This option sends
the message as plain text only, thus it will cause your message to lose
formatting such as custom colors or bold text. It will also remove all
images which are within the message itself (but not attachments).
Send the message as HTML only: If you select this
option, keep in mind that some mail programs may have trouble displaying
the message as no separate plain-text representation is sent.
Send the message as both plain text and HTML: This
option is the best trade-off between compatibility and retaining applied
formatting and embedded images, but increases the message size.
Settings for entire domains:
HTML and Plain Text Domains: These options explicitly set
HTML or plain-text preference for all users in the given domains (i.e., the
part of an e-mail address after the @). Use the Add button to add
the domain names that you typically send mail to, if you know which domains
can display HTML-formatted mail messages, and which domains can only
display plain text.
Settings depending on the message content:
Automatically send the message as plain text if no significant
formatting is present: Use this option to convert messages which
were composed in HTML to plain text to reduce the size of the message if
no or non-significant formatting has been applied. Significant in
this case includes bold or italic fonts, underlining, custom colors, etc.
This test is performed before the address book or domain settings
are consulted to determine the send format.
For example, if you typically send mail to multiple recipients that have the
same domain name (for example, your colleagues all have email addresses that
end in netscape.net), and you know that this domain name is capable of
displaying HTML messages, then you can add the netscape.net domain to the
list of HTML Domains so that Mail & Newsgroups will automatically send
messages in HTML format to these recipients (note that no plain-text part is
sent in this case).
Similarly, if you typically send mail to recipients at a domain that you
know can only receive Plain Text messages, you can add that domain name to
the list of Plain Text domains, so that Mail & Newsgroups automatically
sends messages to that domain in plain-text format (no HTML part is sent).
Whenever you add a person or address card to your address book, you can
specify whether that addressee can receive HTML-formatted messages. However,
when this information is unknown, you can set Send Format preferences for how
Mail & Newsgroups formats these messages.
You can always override these preferences for an individual message by
using the Options menu in the Mail Compose window.
Note: If you regularly compose HTML (formatted) mail
messages, keep in mind that sometimes not all recipients use mail programs
that can display HTML formatting properly. Send Format preferences allow you
to specify how you want to format messages that go to recipients who cannot
display HTML-formatted mail. You can convert messages to plain text, format
them only as HTML, or format them as both HTML and plain text. These
preferences apply to all your mail accounts, but only to mail messages and
not to newsgroup messages.
Addressing preferences allow you to control the settings for
&brandShortName; Mail & Newsgroups address books (for example, email
address collection and address autocompletion). If you are not already
viewing the Addressing settings, follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the
Preferences dialog box.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Addressing. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list.)
Email Address Collection: Select this if you want Mail
& Newsgroups to automatically collect recipients' email addresses.
Use the drop-down list to choose between having the addresses added to your
Collected Addresses or your Personal Address Book.
Address Autocompletion:
Address autocompletion allows you to quickly address mail without having to
search for names or type names completely. Select from which location Mail
& Newsgroups will search for matching addresses: Local Address
Books (Personal Address Book, Collected Addresses, or any other local
address book) or Directory Server (an available LDAP directory
server) or both. If you want Mail & Newsgroups to highlight addresses
that do not autocomplete, then select that option.
Note: If while addressing mail, multiple email address
matches are found, Mail & Newsgroups displays a list of all possible
choices.
If you select Directory Server, choose a directory server from the list.
A directory server lets you look up addresses that are not stored in one
of your local address books. The directory you select will also be
searched for matching certificates when you attempt to send an encrypted
message to one or more recipients for whom you don't have
certificates on file.
Note: Directory server settings you enter from the
Preferences dialog box apply to all your mail accounts. You can override
these settings for individual accounts by specifying different LDAP
directory servers or server settings using the Addressing settings for an
account in the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box. To set
different addressing options for a specific account, open the Edit menu
and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings.
Mail & Newsgroups Preferences -
Junk & Suspect Mail
This section describes how to use the Junk & Suspect Mail preferences
panel. If you are not currently viewing the Junk & Suspect Mail panel,
follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Junk & Suspect Mail.
(If no subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to
expand the list.)
When I mark messages as junk: Choose this to
set what you want &brandShortName; to do when you manually mark messages
as Junk.
Move them to the account's Junk folder:
Choose this to move manually-marked Junk messages to the Junk folder.
Delete them: Choose this to move manually-marked
Junk messages to the trash folder.
Mark messages as read:
When &brandShortName; determines that they are junk:
Select this option to mark junk messages as read, so they will not show
up as new.
When I manually mark them as junk: Select this
option to mark messages as read when you manually mark them as junk.
Enable junk filter logging: Select this option to allow
logging the history of Junk mail detections. Click the Show log
button to open a dialog showing this log.
Reset training data: Click this button to clear the
training data of the adaptive junk filter. Since this will effectively
destroy your personal junk profile, you will be asked for confirmation.
Tell me if the message I'm reading is a suspected email
scam: Choose this to make &brandShortName; analyze messages for
suspected email scams by looking for common techniques used to deceive
people.
Allow antivirus clients to scan incoming messages more
easily: Choose this to let &brandShortName; make it easier for
antivirus software to analyze incoming mail messages for viruses before
they are stored locally.
This section describes how to use the Tags preferences panel. You use the
Tags preferences to define the tag text, colors and order for message tags.
If you are not currently viewing the panel, follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Tags. (If no options
are visible, double-click the Mail & Newsgroups category to expand the
list.)
Customize Tags: Specifies the tag text and the color
for each tag. You can edit or replace the default tag text with your
own text (up to 32 characters). To change the tag color, click the color
chip next to that tag and select a new color. Use the Move Up and Move Down
buttons to order your tags by descending importance. Messages with
multiple tags will be colored according to their most important tag.
Restore Defaults: Removes all customized tags and
restores just the default tags' text and colors.
This section describes how to use the Return Receipts preferences panel. If
you are not currently viewing the Return Receipts panel, follow these
steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Return Receipts. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand the
list.)
You use the Return Receipts preferences to define return receipt settings
for outgoing messages from all your mail accounts. You also use the Return
Receipt preferences to specify how to manage requests you receive for return
receipts.
When sending messages, always request a return receipt:
Enables automatic return receipt requests for all outgoing messages in all
your mail accounts.
Leave it in my Inbox: Return receipt confirmation
messages are delivered to your Inbox.
Tip: Choose this option if you want to use a filter
that automatically moves return receipt confirmation messages to a folder
you specify. For information on creating and using filters, see
Creating
Message Filters.
Move it to my Sent Mail folder: Incoming return receipt
confirmation messages are moved to your Sent mail folder.
Never send a return receipt: Choose this option if you
do not want to send a return receipt in response to requests for return
receipts from others.
Allow return receipts for some messages: Choose how you
want to respond to requests you receive for return receipts.
Text (character) encoding preferences allow you to choose how messages are
encoded when being displayed or created in all accounts. If you are not
already viewing the Text Encoding settings, follow these steps:
Open the &brandShortName;Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the
Preferences dialog box.
Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Text Encoding. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list.)
Fallback Text Encoding: Click this drop-down list to
select the text encoding you want Mail & Newsgroups to use as the
fallback for incoming mail and newsgroup messages. Senders are supposed
to declare the text encoding in which they are to be displayed, but some
legacy content (e.g., from mailing lists or in international newsgroups)
may not do so. This encoding is used for such messages you've received
in which the text encoding (MIME charset parameter) is not specified.
Note: Individual folders may override this setting in
the General Information tab of the Folder Properties. This dialog can be
accessed from the Edit menu of a Mail & Newsgroup window when a
folder is selected.
Tip: You can later view or change the text encoding
for a specific message. Select a folder, then the message to display.
Open the View menu, and choose Text Encoding.
For messages that contain 8-bit characters, use 'quoted
printable' MIME encoding: Choose to have Mail &
Newsgroups use quoted printable MIME encoding when sending regular
messages that use an 8-bit text encoding (for example, Latin ISO-8859-3).
This is usually only necessary when communicating via a legacy server that
doesn't process 8-bit encoding correctly.
Default Text Encoding: Select the text encoding you want
Mail & Newsgroups to use as the default for outgoing mail and newsgroup
messages.
When possible, use this default text encoding in
replies.: By default, the selected text encoding is
not used when replying to a message. Instead, the text
encoding of the message being replied to is used. Choose this option to use
the default text encoding for outgoing messages even when replying, as long
as the quoted characters can be represented in the selected encoding.
New mail tray icon
Balloon alert