• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Editing an email in Thunderbird

strep3241

strep3241

Senior member
I am using Thunderbird 24.2 and I am wanting to edit the subject line of some of my emails. I know how to edit the subject line, the thing is when it resends the edited email to me, it shows it came from me instead of the original sender. Is there a way to keep the original senders address? There has to be a way to do this.

The way I edit the subject line is right click on the subject and click edit as new. I have also tried editing it under drafts.
 
What you're doing is basically taking ownership of the mail, and sending a new copy so it's coming from you, and not the original sender. It would be better to find a different way of doing what you're doing. Why do you want to edit the subject? Could your goal be accomplished by tagging?
 
One reason I want to do this I keep all the receipts for ebay and my online orders in a separate folder. I would like to edit the subject line so I can quickly see what the receipts are for. I would like to be able to scroll through the emails and see what they are without having to click on each one.

Tagging will not work for me, it doesn't add it to the subject line.
 
How about creating a task in Lightning? Right click the message, create task, then name it what you like, and set other options as desired.

S1eBk6U.png
 
I am not quite sure what Lightning is supposed to do. Am I able to edit the subject line of the original email with Lightning and still keep the original sender's address?

I don't think Lightning is what I am looking for. All I want to change is the subject line and keep everything else the same, the sender's address, the date I received the email, etc. Maybe what I want to do is not possible, I don't know. I didn't think this would be that complicated.

If I can't do this with Thunderbird, is there a program that will allow me to do this? It seems like people say that this is possible with Outlook unless I misread something.
 
Last edited:
memory said:
I am not quite sure what Lightning is supposed to do. Am I able to edit the subject line of the original email with Lightning and still keep the original sender's address?
Click to expand...

Lightning is a calendaring addon. Creating a task doesn't modify the original email. It creates a task that allows you to change the subject, so you can quickly see what you have, and uses the email body in the main field. It can also be set to expire after a certain amount of time, so it would be useful for automatic cleanup. You'd view the "tasks" in the task pane.
 
I don't think that is exactly what I am looking for. I would like to keep all the emails in the same place. I don't want my ebay emails in one place and everything else in another place.

Man, I didn't think something so simple in theory could be so complicated.

Is there an email program that will allow me to do what I am wanting? I would need to be able to move all my emails from Thunderbird to the different email program.

The only thing I want to change is the subject line. I want everything else to be the same, date received, email address, etc.
 
Last edited:
I think I have found a way to do this. What I have to do is drag the email from Thunderbird to the desktop, open it with notepad and edit the subject line from there. Once that is done and saved, drag it from the desktop back to Thunderbird.

The only thing that has changed is the subject line, every thing else is the same, the received date, the sender's email address is all the same. Now you can also delete the original email. So it can be done although it will be time consuming especially if someone wants to do this to 1000's of emails. I don't have that many so it is not that big of a deal.
 
Hello memory,

Can you help me understand what you are trying to do here? It sounds like something one would just use folders for, but it sounds like you have a slightly different goal for this.
 
ketchup79 said:
Hello memory,

Can you help me understand what you are trying to do here? It sounds like something one would just use folders for, but it sounds like you have a slightly different goal for this.
Click to expand...

I use Thunderbird program for all of my emails. I have been wanting to edit the subject line of already received emails without changing the original senders email address and the date. Every time I would edit the subject line, it would show it was from me. I did not want that. One reason for editing the subject line is I keep all the receipts for online orders and stuff I buy off of ebay in a separate folder. For future reference, I wanted to be able to scroll through the list of emails and see what they are without having to click on each email.

Do you understand what I was trying to accomplish now? BTW, what I figured out this solution I have found also works with Windows Live Mail in case anybody wanted to know.
 
memory said:
... Do you understand what I was trying to accomplish now? BTW, what I figured out this solution I have found also works with Windows Live Mail in case anybody wanted to know.
Click to expand...

I think so, thanks. Ebay emails just give you very general information in the titles (and all with the same sender of course), so it would be helpful to have identifying information in the subject line.
 
ketchup79 said:
I think so, thanks. Ebay emails just give you very general information in the titles (and all with the same sender of course), so it would be helpful to have identifying information in the subject line.
Click to expand...

Exactly my reason for wanting to do this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top