Thunderbird Stuck

I clicked on an email so thunderbird was supposed to turn on and open the compose window. Instead it seemed stuck on opening imap of gmail.

So I asked AI to summarize what to do.

This is what I got.

If Thunderbird is stuck or frozen, here are some steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

1. Restart Thunderbird

• Close Thunderbird completely (check Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on macOS to ensure all processes are ended).
• Relaunch Thunderbird.

2. Start Thunderbird in Safe Mode

• Hold Shift (Windows/Linux) or Option (macOS) while opening Thunderbird.
• This disables add-ons and resets some settings temporarily.
• If Thunderbird works in Safe Mode, an extension or theme may be causing the issue.

3. Disable Problematic Add-ons

• Go to Menu (☰) → Add-ons and Themes → Extensions.
• Disable all add-ons, then re-enable them one by one to identify the culprit.

4. Rebuild the Global Database (if slow or freezing)

• Close Thunderbird.
• Delete (or rename) these files in your profile folder:
  • global-messages-db.sqlite
  • folderCache.json (if present)
• Restart Thunderbird—it will rebuild the database.

5. Check for Corrupted Profile

• Close Thunderbird.
• Go to your Thunderbird Profile Folder:
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\
  • macOS: ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/
  • Linux: ~/.thunderbird/
• Rename the folder (e.g., from xxxx.default to xxxx.default.old).
• Restart Thunderbird—it will create a new profile.
• If the issue is resolved, migrate your data from the old profile.

6. Update Thunderbird

• Go to Menu (☰) → Help → About Thunderbird.
• Install any pending updates.

7. Check for System Issues

• Ensure your system has enough RAM and storage.
• Run a malware scan (some infections can slow down apps).

8. Reinstall Thunderbird (Last Resort)

• Backup your profile folder first.
• Uninstall Thunderbird, then download and install the latest version from Mozilla’s website.

If the problem persists, you may need to seek help on the Mozilla Support Forum.

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Point 4 was to rebuid the database. So I ran my program

make_my_thunderbird_faster

and that fixed the issue.

The program is available from our website and is very useful. It is designed to delete index files of mailboxes and this results in thunderbird rebuilding those indexes. Somehow it does not clean up these index files.
But I remembered that the global message index is also in the list. So I used this program to solve the issue of whatever thunderbird was stuck on at the startup.

You are welcome to check it out and provide feedback.

Remember this is for Linux only. Windows users are out of luck because a lot of software is not available for this older outdated proprietry platform.