How To Update Thunderbird?

Thunderbird is a free and open source email client that's also an excellent newsgroup reader. Thunderbird is based on the Mozilla platform, which means it can use the same add-ons that Firefox has, but it takes more work to get them in Thunderbird. This article will show you how to update Thunderbird file using Thunderbird Manager, email on update. Lastly, it will show you how to back up and restore your email so you can have complete peace of mind.

Is your Thunderbird app failing to update for whatever reason? If this is your case, then you are on the right page.This article contains steps on how to update Thunderbird manually. On top of that, it also includes things to do if you encounter errors when updating the app.

Quick Overview of Thunderbird

Before diving into how to update Thunderbird, let us first discuss what it is. It is a cross-platform application that is open-source used for managing emails, chat, newsgroups, and news feeds. It is a local email application instead of a browser or web-based email, but it is considerably easy to use.

Steps on How to Update Thunderbird Manually

Thunderbird is set to update by default automatically. However, in case it does not update automatically, the only option you have is to do a manual update. Here are the steps for that:

1. On the menu bar, select the Thunderbird menu and click on About Thunderbird.
   
2. A window will open, and Thunderbird will automatically start scanning for updates. If there is an available update, it will automatically begin the download process.
3. Once the download process is finished, it is not ready to be installed. To do that, click on Restart Thunderbird Update.

What to Do if the Update Fails?

If you follow these steps and you end up getting a "Thunderbird Software Update Failed" error notice, there can be several reasons behind that. Here are some of the reason why it failed and the appropriate solutions for them:

• Thunderbird is Still Running

One common reason why the update for Thunderbird fails is if another user is running it. This is why you need to ensure that only one user is logged in when updating the software. The quickest way of doing this is to restart your computer before starting the manual update procedure.

• There are Existing Thunderbird Process

Another reason why your manual update failed is probably because there are still existing Thunderbird processes on your Windows. You can manually end this process by following these steps:

1. Right-click on the Windows taskbar and click Task Manager.
2. Click on the Process tab.
3. Click thunderbird.exe entry under the processes list and select End Process. A pop-up menu will then appear. Click on Yes.

• Edited Msconfig

Suppose the steps mentioned above do not work, and your update on Thunderbird is still failing. In that case, it may be due to stop application experience or edited MSConfig. To fix that, follow these steps:

1. Right-click anywhere on the Window taskbar and click on Task Manager. Alternatively, you can press the keys Ctrl, Shift, and Esc simultaneously.
2. Click on the Services tab. Launch the "AeLookupSvc- Application Experience" service. Suppose you are unable to launch this, you can try disabling the Application Experience on MSConfig.

Msconfig editing steps:

1. To edit MSConfig, press the Windows button.
2. Type in MSConfig and click the thunderbird program.
3. Click on the Services tab.
4. Enable the Application Experience option, then click on OK.
5. Restart your computer as needed.

What if None of These Works?

When all things fail, and the Thunderbird App is still displaying a Software Update Failed error message, the best solution is to download a new version. You can do this even though there is still an existing version of it on your computer.

This will force the app to update. If this still does not work, contact Thunderbird support for more solutions.

Summary: How To Update Thunderbird?

• Today we will explain the steps to update Thunderbird to its latest version.
• Updating Thunderbird is a bit of a tricky thing and there are two ways you can do this.
• The Thunderbird update can take place either automatically or manually.
• In this article, we will talk about how to get the Thunderbird update at least for computer system with either Windows or Mac OS X operating systems.
• First, open your Thunderbird program and then head to Tools menu and then choose Options from there.
• You have to be sure that the Automatically download and install the updates checkbox is checked because that’s the only way you can rely on automatic updates feature for Thunderbird application.
• If you want to check for updates manually, you need to pick Check Now button at this point and then wait for a minute or two.
• You will receive an error message if you don’t have access to the Internet but it’s fine as long as you don’t get any error message when clicking Check Now button.

Final Words

The automatic update feature of Thunderbird is one reason why it is considered easy to use. However, it's not perfect, and there are times when you will be forced to do a manual update. But, now, you will not have a hard time because you know the steps on how to do this.