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how to prevent changing unread messages to read

  • 6 cavab
  • 4 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by h4xintl

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Highlighting a message, such as when scrolling up or down with the arrow keys, changes unread messages to "read". How can I keep the unread messages highlighted by bold print? Another situation where this occurs is when I read a message and then file or delete it the next message automatically changes to "read", even if it hasn't. Thanks.

Highlighting a message, such as when scrolling up or down with the arrow keys, changes unread messages to "read". How can I keep the unread messages highlighted by bold print? Another situation where this occurs is when I read a message and then file or delete it the next message automatically changes to "read", even if it hasn't. Thanks.

Chosen solution

If there is no "preview pane" to display the message, it won't be marked as read. That's the theory.

I suspect that you, like me, can't imagine having to open messages in separate tabs or windows. The "preview pane" is pretty much all we need to read our email. ;-)

You can use right-click|Mark|As Unread to reinstate the unread status. I'm pretty sure there's a single key press command to do this too, but I can't think where to look for it right now. You can also toggle the read/unread state by clicking on the green dot in the message list.

And maybe you could set a longer delay before changing state.

Tools|Options|Display|Advanced

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All Replies (6)

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Press F8 and turn the message pane off.

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Sorry, I don't understand. When I press F8 the message list enlarges (extends downward), eliminating the area where messages are read. I don't see any other options. Thanks.

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So it seems I would have to double click on a message to read it in a new tab. Is that the only way? Thanks.

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Seçilmiş Həll

If there is no "preview pane" to display the message, it won't be marked as read. That's the theory.

I suspect that you, like me, can't imagine having to open messages in separate tabs or windows. The "preview pane" is pretty much all we need to read our email. ;-)

You can use right-click|Mark|As Unread to reinstate the unread status. I'm pretty sure there's a single key press command to do this too, but I can't think where to look for it right now. You can also toggle the read/unread state by clicking on the green dot in the message list.

And maybe you could set a longer delay before changing state.

Tools|Options|Display|Advanced

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h4xintl said

Sorry, I don't understand. When I press F8 the message list enlarges (extends downward), eliminating the area where messages are read. I don't see any other options. Thanks.

Well yeah. You said you did not want them marked as read. If you open them in the messages pane, a tab or a window you have read the message and Thunderbird marks them as such.

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Thank you very much. Changing the delay before changing state solved my issue. Now it behaves more like Windows Live Mail, which is where I'm coming from.