You can set a default font size, where "medium" means your recipient's default font size. That's always struck me as an ideal arrangement, except that Outlook takes this as an invitation to assert some arbitrarily chosen font size when quoting your text.

You could use a Stationery template that sets specific font sizes.

There is an addon that provides a button for the formatting toolbar which lets you set a font size, though beware; like most font seeing adjustments in Thunderbird, it uses pixels, not points. I'll look this up and post its name later.

There is no way that words like 'small' & 'medium', can be considered any kind of good representation for numeric values like 10pt & 12pt, least ideal!

Using 3rd party software for doing just this, and especially using it in an email program presents a major security risk.

I'm asking that this proposal may be carried forward to the development team so that it may be added later.

Thank you :)

!!!!! I don't know how to delete this comment. Sorry!

12pt Times Roman is entirely meaningless given the variety of devices that your message might be viewed on. At two extremes it may be seen on a smartphone which cannot provide either your typeface, nor the size you ask for. If viewed on a projector or smart screen as may be used in a meeting, you wouldn't want it in 12pt size type as it would be illegible.

Point sizes in email are pretty much advisory rather than mandatory, and should be left to suit the viewer's needs and convenience, not some arbitrary numbers forced upon him by the sender.

All of Thunderbird and its addons are open source. There is no reason to suppose that an addon introduces any particular risk.

It sounds to me that you should walk away and find an email client that better meets your requirements.

I wanted to move to Thunderbird because it was open source in the first place!

Well, it's not particularly that, but using an up/down arrows button for adjusting font feels so cheap and unskilful.

Thank you for asking me to turn away from the product on which form you are answering questions! Good job! I'm kidding thank you anyway. I hope they'll add it in the future. I'll start using it anyway.

Yours is a common request, but I do feel that those who ask it have been conditioned by other email clients to believe that point sizes are useful or reliable in email in particular, and in digital messaging in general.

I may need 16pt type on my screen to suit my eyesight. It would be discourteous of me to inflict that on all my correspondents. So I can compose using a large display font, but by setting the message markup to specify medium, I know it will be shown at whatever size the recipient likes or chooses to use. Likewise, your message to me, if set to medium when you compose it, allows your message to be shown to me at whatever font size I habitually use. In any case, Thunderbird lets me ignore and override both your choice of font face and font size, if absolutely necessary.

Most of us who use Thunderbird do so precisely because of the Add-ons and the ability they give us to tailor it to our own needs or preferences. Use of add-ons is inherent to the product, and this intentional design characteristic is not going to go away. So if you are genuinely anxious about "third party" components, then Thunderbird may well not be right for you, and I think it's only fair to raise this point early on.

I hope you will come to appreciate is strengths, and even consider the two add-ons I've suggested, since they can either automate, or simplify the business of setting a specific font size. Incidentally, Stationery is one of the few places in Thunderbird where you can set font size in points rather than pixels.

Okay you convinced me. Thank you for your time ^^

Same problem as eliasojenn. But the answers made no sense to me. I got small and medium out of one answer, but no explanation as to where to go to set either of those. As far as addons, someone evidently suggested two by name, but the names were nowhere to be found in the answer. What is the simplest way to enlarge my fonts permanently, so I can read my messages, and please give me step by step instructions. Thanks!

1. To set the font size when composing you need to be working in HTML.

The setting for size is here: Tools|Options|Composition|General

If you can't see a menu, press the <alt> key.

Add-ons to help with defining font sizes when composing: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/stationery/ https://codefisher.org/projects/extra_format_buttons/

The Stationery add-on doesn't immediately solve your problem, but it gives you tools to tackle the issue. Stationery allows you to use templates which include font declarations. Creating those templates is a separate matter. Stationery was aimed principally at users who had employed 3rd party templates, originally designed for Outlook Express.

2. To set the font size in messages for reading you don't need any add-ons.

Go to Tools|Options|Display|Formatting→Advanced and set the font sizes there. You need to choose the various fonts you might be using at the top and set each one.

More here: http://xenos-email-notes.simplesite.com/417754775