This article explains how to download and install Thunderbird on Linux. This article only applies to Linux. For instructions to install Thunderbird on Mac, see Install Thunderbird on Mac. For instructions to install Thunderbird on Windows, see Install Thunderbird on Windows.
Note: if you have Thunderbird installed via multiple methods (deb, rpm, flatpak, snap, etc) you may have multiple application icons that are identical. To avoid this, we recommend installing using only one installation method at a time.
Install from FlatpakThe Thunderbird flatpak package and tarballs are maintained directly by the Thunderbird staff. Therefore, these tend to be more quickly updated to newer stable versions than other sources.
To install Thunderbird from Flatpak, you will need to install flatpak and setup flathub, if not already on your system. Flathub is the central repository for flatpaks and contains well maintained instructions on setting up flatpak installs for various distributions.
Once flatpak and flathub are all set up, you can either download and install it all from the command line, or separately download the flatpakref file and head to the command line to install it.
How to install with the command line (easier and much cooler) flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.Thunderbird
The Thunderbird snap package is maintained by Canonical and Thunderbird.
To install Thunderbird from Snap:
Linux distributions normally create packages for installing Mozilla Thunderbird easily, using tools that are included with the Linux distribution. The package may contain modifications for better integration with the operating system. Maintainers of the Linux distribution control when new updates of their Thunderbird software are made available, so there may be a delay between when your distribution provides a newest available version or update compared to when an official new version or update is available at Thunderbird.net or in the flatpak. Your distribution may also provide Thunderbird without the Thunderbird branding.
To install Thunderbird using your distribution package manager, please refer to your Linux distribution's documentation. This method has the benefit of ensuring that Thunderbird and all the required libraries are installed and configured optimally for your distribution.
Installing Thunderbird manually for a Specific Release Channel (For advanced users) NOTE: This instruction set is for users that wish to install for troubleshooting purposes or to use a specific
release channel, for example beta or daily. Unless you know what you are doing and are familiar with using a command line, please install Thunderbird using one of the methods previously described.
Thunderbird channelsThunderbird offers four channels: Release (also known as Monthly, available March 2025), ESR (annual major releases), Beta, and Daily. These are described in detail on the developer page, with further information and tips in the article about Thunderbird Beta. Please make sure your computer has the required libraries installed. Missing libraries may cause Thunderbird to be inoperable or unreliable. The requirement list can vary by channel: ESR requirements, Release, Beta, Daily requirements.
Changing channelsIt is possible to change channels and keep using your existing Thunderbird data, for example to go from ESR to Release. But if you want to use a different channel and not change your existing Thunderbird data to that channel, see Running multiple channels. When changing channels you will want avoid complications and protect your profile data:
rm -rf /opt/thunderbird
and then install the chosen download into /opt/thunderbird/. If using the home method below, do rm -rf $HOME/thunderbird
and then install the chosen download into $HOME/thunderbird/.It is possible to have multiple channels of Thunderbird installed, and even run them simultaneously. Each must be installed in a different installation directory, which will force multiple Thuderbird data profiles to be used in order to protect and keep your data separated.
Installation locationWhen installing Thunderbird manually, you can choose to install it either in the system or home folder. Below you will find instructions for both.
System Thunderbird installationsudo
commands./usr/bin/thunderbird
.cd ~/Downloads
tar xjf thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
rm thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
sudo mv thunderbird /opt
sudo ln -s /opt/thunderbird/thunderbird /usr/local/bin/thunderbird
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla/sumo-kb/main/installing-thunderbird-linux/thunderbird.desktop -P /usr/local/share/applications
Alternatively, if wget
is not installed on your computer, go to the URL mentioned above, right-click on the page to open the contextual menu and select . After you downloaded the file, move it to /usr/local/share/applications.
To confirm everything is installed correctly, open Thunderbird from the newly created desktop file, and go to > > . In the Application Basics section of the Troubleshooting Information page, the value of Application Binary should be /opt/thunderbird/thunderbird-bin
.
If you don't have access to login as root or execute sudo
commands, or just prefer to use a local Thunderbird in your account, you can make a local installation. You can also do this to have multiple Thunderbird installations for different builds.
thunderbird-<version>.tar.bz2
.cd ~/Downloads
tar xjf thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
rm thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
.mv thunderbird thunderbird-beta
.mv thunderbird $HOME/thunderbird
.$HOME/thunderbird/thunderbird &
.wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla/sumo-kb/main/installing-thunderbird-linux/thunderbird.desktop -P $HOME/.local/bin/thunderbird
.sed -i.bak -e "s|Exec=thunderbird %u|Exec=$HOME/thunderbird/thunderbird %u|" $HOME/.local/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop
sed -i.bak -e "s|Icon=/opt/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default/default128.png|Icon=$HOME/thunderbird/chrome/icons/default/default128.png|" $HOME/.local/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop
.Now, your Thunderbird application icon should be found among your other applications and you can launch Thunderbird as you expect.
Note: This method doesn't change file types binding on the system, so mailto links from other applications will not open in the local installation. You will need to copy the email address and paste it manually in Thunderbird.
Thunderbird icon is displayed as a generic iconIf you are using GNOME and the Thunderbird icon is displayed as a generic icon (e.g., a gear icon), additional configuration of the thunderbird.desktop
launcher is required. The following ensures the correct application icon is displayed for Thunderbird.
Identify the wmclass
for Thunderbird:
Alt+F2
while Thunderbird is running to launch the run command console.lg
and press Enter.Windows
in the upper-right corner.wmclass
in the displayed list.Modify the thunderbird.desktop
launcher:
thunderbird.desktop
file in a text editor.[Desktop Entry]
section, add or update the StartupWMClass
key to include the wmclass
value you found earlier. For example: StartupWMClass=thunderbird-esr
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