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Fix Thunderbird 45 Enter-key creating two lines

If you have updated the desktop email client Thunderbird to version 45 which the team released recently, you may have noticed several changes that may affect how you are using the application.

One of those changes affects the compose window, and there specifically what happens when you tap on the Enter-key to create a new line.

Previous versions of Thunderbird would jump to the next line automatically when you used the Enter-key in the compose window, but the new version does not anymore.

Thunderbird 45 jumps two lines down when you hit the enter-key on the computer keyboard instead, or, more precisely, it creates a new paragraph whenever you hit the Enter-key.

While some may not mind, it is a nuisance for others who now have to go back a line to avoid too many empty lines in the emails they are writing.

Fix Thunderbird's Enter-key issue

thunderbird 45 enter key

The issue is easy enough to fix though. The development team of the email program added a new option to the Thunderbird settings that gives you control over the change.

To go back to the one-line per tap on the Enter-key format do the following:

  1. If you don't see a menu bar at the top, tap on the Alt-key to display it.
  2. Select Tools > Options from the menu bar to open the Thunderbird Options window.
  3. Switch to Composition > General once it is displayed on the screen.
  4. Locate the preference "When using paragraph format, the enter key creates a new paragraph" under HTML.
  5. Uncheck the option, and click on the ok button afterwards to save the change.

When you tap on the Enter-key now when you are composing emails, you will notice that the previous behavior is enabled again. The cursor jumps to the next line from that moment on just like it did in previous versions of Thunderbird.

You are probably wondering what the "paragraph format" is that is mentioned. It means when you are composing HTML emails, or have set the format to auto.

You can check which format Thunderbird uses by opening a compose window and selecting Options > Delivery Format from the menu bar.

thunderbird compose

The "paragraph format" is used if Auto-Detect, Rich Text (HTML) Only, or Plain and Rich (HTML) Text are selected.

The Enter-key setting has no effect if the Plain Text Only format is selected.

 

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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