Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

What does red mean in the addressee field?

  • 1 reply
  • 7 have this problem
  • 31 views
  • Last reply by gild

jay46
jay46
more options

Sometimes when I am composing an outgoing e-mail, the address that I type in the Addressee field shows up in red, and sometimes it shows up in black. This is on Thunderbird 38.3.0, but has been happening with the last several versions.

I originally thought that red meant that either (a) the address is not valid as typed in, or (b) the address is valid, but not present in the Address Book. However, now it seems that red shows up randomly and fairly often, even though the message is a Reply (and I do have automatic collection of addresses turned on) or even though I know for certain that the address is present in my Address Book.

Can anyone explain what the color is supposed to mean?

(Of course, now that I have raised the issue, I can't reproduce it today to give you a screen shot. But it has been happening.)

Sometimes when I am composing an outgoing e-mail, the address that I type in the Addressee field shows up in red, and sometimes it shows up in black. This is on Thunderbird 38.3.0, but has been happening with the last several versions. I originally thought that red meant that either (a) the address is not valid as typed in, or (b) the address is valid, but not present in the Address Book. However, now it seems that red shows up randomly and fairly often, even though the message is a Reply (and I do have automatic collection of addresses turned on) or even though I know for certain that the address is present in my Address Book. Can anyone explain what the color is supposed to mean? (Of course, now that I have raised the issue, I can't reproduce it today to give you a screen shot. But it has been happening.)

Chosen solution

Black - is in address book. Red - not in address book.

Could be red if address is not EXACTLY the same as in one of the regular address books, (Not 'Collected Addresses' or 'All Address Books'). This feature can prevent the mis-spelling of an email address,

Also there is a bug report of issues with red text when manually adding a TO address in a Write window. It is only a visual thing, it does not prevent the message from being sent. Just double check for a misspelled address.

TB-38.3 Win10-PC

Read this answer in context 👍 10

All Replies (1)

gild
gild
more options

Chosen Solution

Black - is in address book. Red - not in address book.

Could be red if address is not EXACTLY the same as in one of the regular address books, (Not 'Collected Addresses' or 'All Address Books'). This feature can prevent the mis-spelling of an email address,

Also there is a bug report of issues with red text when manually adding a TO address in a Write window. It is only a visual thing, it does not prevent the message from being sent. Just double check for a misspelled address.

TB-38.3 Win10-PC