Thunderbird Matrix Chat FAQ

How can I connect a Matrix account that uses Single Sign On (SSO) in Thunderbird?

Add your Matrix account with SSO as follows:

1. Click ≡ > New Account > Chat > select Matrix > click Next.
2. In the Username dialog: For Username enter your username, for Server enter the primary domain of your SSO account, and then click Next.
   For example, if your account is: “@awesomeaccount:matrix.org”, enter awesomeaccount in the Username field and matrix.org in the Server field.
3. Since you are using an SSO account, there is no need to enter a password so leave the Password field empty and click Next.
4. For most people, there is no need to make any changes in the Advanced Options dialog so you can simply click Next.
5. On the Summary page, ensure the checkbox for Connect this account now is ticked and click Finish.
6. Thunderbird will now open a separate page to ask for the credentials of your SSO account, which you should complete as usual.

When done, Thunderbird will start requesting the chat rooms from your account. This is a slow process, please allow time, your rooms should appear one after another on the left side of that chat window.

Why do some Matrix rooms remain empty, why others show old messages?

Thunderbird does not support dynamic back scroll, which means most old messages from previous sessions will not be shown. Only your unread messages are shown on initial connection, and all messages that are sent to rooms later on. However, sometimes it is ambiguous which messages are still unread, and this can cause some old messages to be shown.

Why are images not shown?

At this time, only text messages are supported.