Thunderbird, the desktop and Android e mail consumer from Mozilla, simply obtained an replace to model 135. That is the beginning of one other transition for Thunderbird: month-to-month main releases by default, matching the Firefox internet browser.

Mozilla Thunderbird is offered in numerous launch channels, similar to the Firefox internet browser, giving folks extra decisions in options vs. stability. The default obtain on the Thunderbird web site till now, and the model distributed in some bundle managers, is the Prolonged Assist Launch (ESR) channel that’s up to date yearly. Since model 124, there has additionally been a Launch channel that receives month-to-month updates with new options and enhancements.

Thunderbird is aiming to maneuver extra folks to the Steady department over the approaching months, to allow them to get new options and bug fixes each month as an alternative of annually. Firefox 136 began formally rolling out in the present day, and now we even have Thunderbird 136.

What’s New in Thunderbird 136

There aren’t any game-changing new options in Thunderbird 136, however in case you’re switching from the ESR department, there are a number of useful adjustments. The darkish reader within the message pane has been improved, and messages are actually robotically tailored to darkish mode—if one thing appears damaged, there’s a toggle within the header to show it off.

The replace additionally provides a settings swap to regulate message threading/sorting order throughout Thunderbird. There are various bug fixes too, together with ones affecting attachments, e mail folders, notifications for IMAP accounts, and safety points.

Every month-to-month Steady launch could have the same assortment of bug fixes and enhancements, so there will likely be extra causes to maneuver from ESR because the characteristic divide grows. Should you want to attend and never fear about something breaking, you’ll be able to simply keep on the ESR channel, and these enhancements will present up within the subsequent main ESR replace.

Thunderbird 136 requires Home windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, or desktop Linux with GTK+ 3.14 or greater. These are the identical system necessities as the present ESR replace, Thunderbird 128. The final replace for Home windows 7 and eight was Thunderbird 115, again in 2023.

Transferring From ESR to Steady

The Thunderbird web site now lists the usual Launch channel because the default obtain. The downloads obtainable from the Home windows Retailer, Snap, Flatpak, and different sources are nonetheless utilizing the ESR. Mozilla beforehand mentioned it plans to make use of in-app notifications and different options to encourage folks to change to the Steady channel, however present ESR customers is not going to be robotically migrated.

The Thunderbird group mentioned in a February weblog submit, “Considered one of our objectives for 2025 is to extend every day lively installations on the discharge channel to a minimum of 20% of the overall installations. Eventually test, we had 29,543 every day lively installations on the discharge channel, in comparison with 20,918 on beta, and 5,941 on every day. The discharge channel installations at the moment account for 0.27% of the ten,784,551 complete lively installations tracked on stats.thunderbird.internet.”

If in case you have a Home windows or Mac laptop, you’ll be able to download the latest Stable version from the Thunderbird website, then set up the appliance to the identical listing the place the ESR model is put in. Should you’re on Linux, the process is much more complicated, and possibly not price it proper now. Ready for a easy Flatpak or Snap model might be the suitable transfer.

Supply: Thunderbird Weblog (1, 2), Thunderbird Release Notes