Update Thunderbird 102.2.0 to fix security and bug issues

Published on Aug 26, 2022

Thunderbird, an open source email client, has been updated. It is now possible to download Thunderbird 102.2.0 and Thunderbird 91.13.0. Version 102.2.0 also fixes a number of security issues in the email client.

Thunderbird 102.2.0 and 91.13.0 are already available. Most client systems will automatically install the new versions. Run a manual check for updates while viewing the installed version in Menu > Help > About Thunderbird. Versions are automatically updated when they are released.

A number of security issues have been fixed in the security advisory. Overall, the detected issues are of high severity. There are some security issues that are not specific to Thunderbird since Thunderbird shares code with Firefox. Thunderbird users may want to update as soon as possible to protect their email client from potential exploits.

There are three sections in the official release notes: new, changed, and fixed. Thunderbird 102.2.0 introduces a new setting to disable the “encryption is possible” reminder. Open Thunderbird’s Settings, select Config Editor under General, search for the preference mail.openpgp.remind_encryption_possible, and toggle its value to False instead of True.

Thunderbird users who used custom fields in their address books before version 102 will find that their data has been restored. Those who waited with upgrading to Thunderbird 102 due to that may now upgrade, as it should be migrated. Accordant to the release notes, the address lines of contacts now appear in the correct order.

If a primary password is set on Mac OS, Thunderbird will prompt for it on startup. Furthermore, Thunderbird will no longer offer to import incomplete OpenPGP keys, and selecting or unselecting dictionaries in the Spelling compose toolbar button won’t close the menu immediately.

There are a number of fixes included in Thunderbird 102. The new release of the email client has improved startup performance, according to the developers. As for the remaining fixes, they are related to POP and IMAP functionality, attachments, entering special characters using Alt+numpad, and address book issues.

The release notes list two known issues. In the address book, the Department field and the “Get Map” feature are missing.