Thunderbird 150 arrives with encrypted message search and OpenPGP improvements
Released today, Thunderbird 150.0 brings eight new features, a round of bug fixes, and security patches that cover the web engine underlying the email client. Thunderbird 150.0 runs on Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, and Linux with GTK+ 3.14 or higher.
Encrypted email gets more useful
Two of the most notable additions in this release touch how users interact with encrypted mail. Thunderbird 150.0 adds message body search for OpenPGP and S/MIME encrypted messages, letting users search inside the content of encrypted messages directly from the client.
The release also adds support for generating Unobtrusive Signatures in OpenPGP, a format designed to make digitally signed messages less visually disruptive for recipients who do not use OpenPGP themselves.
PDF viewer gains page reorganization
The built-in PDF viewer picks up the ability to reorganize pages directly within the viewer, a workflow improvement for users who handle PDF attachments regularly. Combined with a fix that resolves a clickjacking and information disclosure issue in the PDF viewer noted in related Firefox advisories, the update extends the usefulness of the viewer while tightening its behavior.
Other new features
The remaining additions in 150.0 cover several areas of the application. The “Recent Destinations” list in General Settings now supports alphabetical sorting. Address book contacts can be copied to the clipboard as vCard data. A custom accent color option is now available in Appearance Settings. The calendar month and multiweek views gain touch screen scrolling support. An account hub opens on first run for new installations.
Bug fixes
The update resolves around a dozen reported problems. Among the fixes: Thunderbird could crash when creating a folder; POP3 mail download could stall until restart; Exchange servers could cause memory leaks through mutual object references; authentication could fail on some Exchange accounts; and the calendar view had date and time axes incorrectly swapped.
The “Move to New Window” option for the calendar was also restored. Several accessibility problems were corrected, including a mailbox name that screen readers did not announce and an incorrect message count in the folder pane. The Microsoft Store version of Thunderbird did not open when clicking news:// links or .eml files, and that is now fixed as well.