Sorting mail in Thunderbird by both unread status and by date

sortingthunderbirdunread-mail

Is there any way to make Thunderbird sort mail so that unread mail is always at the top and the e-mails are sorted by date in descending order persistently? Maybe an add-on that someone can recommend?

I can get the desired sort order by first clicking the "Date" header to order by date, then click it again to get descending order, then click the "Read" header to order by unread status, then click it again to get descending order. After I restart Thunderbird, while the unread messages are still on top, the date order has reverted to ascending.

This annoys me no end as it causes a major disconnect between the mail that has just arrived (or that I've intentionally left [or market] unread) and the other recent mail as well as messages I've only just read.

I've only been trying Thunderbird again for a day or after trying it years ago and disliking it. The program has improved tremendously and I would consider switching permanently, though the sorting order is a deal-breaker for me.

Best Answer

Click the settings button while looking at your inbox (the 3 hatch marks upper right on your inbox view) point to "view" then "sort by" choose "read". If necessary go in again and choose sort order "Descending" It will sort unread to the top, by date, and then read by date, both descending.

Related Solutions

Thunderbird – Change the Default Sorting Order in Thunderbird

Open the Config Editor from the following menu options:

Preferences > General > Config Editor

You might also find it at:

Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Config Editor

Or if you are using an older version of Thunderbird:

Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor

Type mailnews.default in the Filter bar to bring up a small list of preferences to configure. It will display similar to below:

Preference Name                      Status       Type        Value
mailnews.default_news_sort_order:    default      integer     x
mailnews.default_news_sort_type:     default      integer     y
mailnews.default_sort_order:         default      integer     x
mailnews.default_sort_type:          default      integer     y

In the above, replace the x and y of the value by double-clicking the name of the preference and replacing it with one of the following values as required:

x (see https://developer.mozilla.org/en/nsMsgViewSortOrder)

1 = Ascending
2 = Descending

y (see https://developer.mozilla.org/en/nsMsgViewSortType)

17 = None
18 = Date
19 = Subject
20 = Author
21 = ID (Order Received)
22 = Thread
23 = Priority
24 = Status
25 = Size
26 = Flagged
27 = Unread
28 = Recipient
29 = Location
30 = Label
31 = Junk Status
32 = Attachments
33 = Account
34 = Custom
35 = Received

So if you wanted to sort all mail by Thread, Descending (newest at top), the preferences in the config editor will look like this:

mailnews.default_sort_order:    default     integer      2
mailnews.default_sort_type:     default     integer     22

There are also default_(news_)view_flags settings (for mail and news), which allow to turn on the "Threaded" flag:

view_flags -- the second group of values can be added to one of the first group to combine effects, with several limitations:
  Unthreaded       0
  Threaded         1
  Grouped         64  [mail only (?)]

  ShowIgnored      8  [news only]
  ShowUnreadOnly  16
  ShowExpanded    32  [doesn't seem to work]
ShowUnreadOnly will check the View|Threads|Unread menu; this will cause only
unread items to be seen, but doesn't force a threaded view.

(See also: https://bugzil.la/86845#c74)

Lotus notes 8.5 Inbox return to default sort and select next unread email

You can cancel/undo the sort by sender and return to the default sort by clicking on the Who header again. This partially solves your problem as it returns the sort to the default sort order.

You can then use CTRL+HOME to move the cursor to the top - and use TAB to move to the next unread.