Thunderbird 141 delivers email stability, fixes, and smarter security reminders

Thunderbird 141 is now available, building on the major improvements delivered in version 140 “Eclipse” earlier this month.

While this update is smaller in scope, it brings useful refinements and more than a dozen bug fixes that improve everyday reliability and security in one of the most widely used open-source email clients.

The update introduces two small but helpful new features. First, users can now archive emails directly from mail notifications. This works alongside existing notification actions like delete, making it quicker to manage email without switching to the app.

Second, the message composer will now warn users if their configured OpenPGP key is close to its expiration date. This early notice will help ensure encrypted email stays uninterrupted.

Thunderbird fixes

The rest of the update focuses on addressing stability and usability issues. One of the key fixes resolves a potential crash when Thunderbird parses message state, a problem that could affect users managing large volumes of email or switching between tabs. A separate crash tied to POP3 account startup has also been patched.

Folder management receives multiple fixes. Issues with new folders not sorting correctly, archive folder creation silently failing, and folder compaction being interrupted by write errors have all been addressed. For users who rely on custom folder setups or handle archiving across accounts, these are welcome fixes.

The update also overcomes a rare but frustrating bug where the delete button could remove an attachment instead of the message. Similarly, messages viewed in tabs can now correctly create calendar events or tasks from within the mail, resolving a limitation that previously blocked that flow.

Visual polish and interface tweaks have also been made to this release. The status bar now behaves more predictably when hovering over attachments and URLs, and a mislabeled emoji -- "Yell" instead of "Angry" -- has been corrected. While that important, these fixes help clean up the overall experience.

Advanced search functions have been improved, too. The “Any Number” field is now available in address book searches using “Match all of the following,” and phone numbers with periods will no longer block contact lookup in the Advanced Search interface. Useful for users managing large address books or importing data from external sources.

A lingering issue on Windows and macOS where Thunderbird incorrectly selected the roaming data directory has been corrected. This bug could lead to inconsistent behavior between sessions, especially for users operating across profiles or using cloud backup tools.

Thunderbird also now correctly displays enterprise policy use in the preferences panel, including a direct link to the “about:policies” page. That change will help users and admins see whether Thunderbird is being controlled through IT-defined settings, and it brings Thunderbird’s policy awareness more in line with that of Firefox.

Thunderbird 141 doesn’t bring sweeping visual changes or new tools like version 140, but frequent users and IT administrators will appreciate the tighter stability, cleaner UI behavior, and helpful warning systems for encryption.

The update is available now and can be installed by navigating to Help > About Thunderbird or through automatic updates. New users can download it from here.

As always, users on Linux using snap or flatpak packages may see the update roll out slightly later.

What do you think of the latest Thunderbird release? Let us know in the comments.