This is covered in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1855900 - some design work is needed.

I've been using Sunbird 0.9beta since 2007, and Thunderbird also (currently TB 128).

A couple of days ago, I exported all of the Sunbird calendars as *.ics files, then imported into Thunderbird calendar. It went smoothly and I have all of the functionality I need, except the ability to search "All events" (i.e. past events).

Sunbird had "All events", but Sunbird also had a really slow indexing function (the first time you click 'Find events' after starting up Sunbird. Thunderbird calendar doesn't have that problem at all - there is never any delay after clicking 'Find events', even with 30,000+ events in 16 calendars.

My question is about how the search/indexing is done. Was Sunbird really slow to index because it indexed ALL 30,000+ events to be able to provide the ability to search "All events", and Thunderbird calendar is fast, because it does NOT index the past events? Or perhaps the indexing speed is just a change in technology, e.g. perhaps Javascript search in Sunbird, and now compiled code in Thunderbird calendar?

Right now, I can't really work with Thunderbird without "All events", so I may have to go back to Sunbird until this is changed.

Thanks for all of the great work on these products. I'm really impressed with being able to use Sunbird 0.9 beta all of these years since 2007. It was a great product. It had a better way to display the event when double-clicked. It came up in a fixed window (no resizing window to view it) and it was already in edit mode. If you just wanted to look at it, just close the window (with appropriate warning if it had been modified). That "edit" button seems really superfluous and unnecessary.

I've been using Sunbird 0.9beta since 2007, and Thunderbird also (currently TB 128). A couple of days ago, I exported all of the Sunbird calendars as *.ics files, then imported into Thunderbird calendar. It went smoothly and I have all of the functionality I need, except the ability to search "All events" (i.e. past events). Sunbird had "All events", but Sunbird also had a really slow indexing function (the first time you click 'Find events' after starting up Sunbird. Thunderbird calendar doesn't have that problem at all - there is never any delay after clicking 'Find events', even with 30,000+ events in 16 calendars. My question is about how the search/indexing is done. Was Sunbird really slow to index because it indexed ALL 30,000+ events to be able to provide the ability to search "All events", and Thunderbird calendar is fast, because it does NOT index the past events? Or perhaps the indexing speed is just a change in technology, e.g. perhaps Javascript search in Sunbird, and now compiled code in Thunderbird calendar? Right now, I can't really work with Thunderbird without "All events", so I may have to go back to Sunbird until this is changed.

Thunderbird stores all the events. But it simply doesn't display them all. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1855900

Thanks for all of the great work on these products. I'm really impressed with being able to use Sunbird 0.9 beta all of these years since 2007. It was a great product. It had a better way to display the event when double-clicked. It came up in a fixed window (no resizing window to view it) and it was already in edit mode. If you just wanted to look at it, just close the window (with appropriate warning if it had been modified). That "edit" button seems really superfluous and unnecessary.

https://connect.mozilla.org/ is the best place to post and vote for suggestions.

I just found this problem, too. It also will not let you search for future events longer than 12 months out. What happened to being able to search for all future events as well as searching for past events?

This is covered in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1855900 - some design work is needed.

Covered? I only see endless academic discussions there, while this is a disastrous degradation of functionality. We are currently wasting lots of time on "when was the last meeting of team xxx?"

Looks like I going to have to find another calendar as I can't search for past events. I do that all the time and it is a major flaw. I am using Thunderbird 128.1.1 esr (64-bit)on Linux Mint.

@Douglas Download new addon ALLEVENTS

Not sure where to find ALLEVENTS. Looks like that doesn't exist yet.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/extensions/?sort=updated

Bugzilla said this was fixed, but I haven't been able to update Thunderbird yet. Did the developers just create this add-on extension to fix the issue, or should we just wait until we get another Thunderbird update? When I saw yesterday that it was fixed, I just assumed they were still testing the updated version and hadn't released it to everybody yet.

Regarding: Thunderbird 128.0 Calendar All Events search missing (bug1855900)

My problem is PAST EVENTS. The developers sound like they think the bug is fixed with All Events, but they really mean current and upcoming events. Past events is what I want fixed. I search for past events to schedule future ones. I am going to try another colander and email app. I can't afford to wait months on this.

Regarding: Thunderbird 128.0 Calendar All Events search missing (bug1855900) My problem is PAST EVENTS. The developers sound like they think the bug is fixed with All Events, but they really mean current and upcoming events. Past events is what I want fixed. I search for past events to schedule future ones. I am going to try another colander and email app. I can't afford to wait months on this.

From what I have seen on Bugzilla, it's just the opposite. They say they have fixed it to show "past events" and "all events" but they don't say they have also fixed it for "future events." My issue is primarily future events. So they need to fix it ALL.

Bugzilla said this was fixed, but I haven't been able to update Thunderbird yet. Did the developers just create this add-on extension to fix the issue, or should we just wait until we get another Thunderbird update? When I saw yesterday that it was fixed, I just assumed they were still testing the updated version and hadn't released it to everybody yet.

Bugzilla is a bug tracking platform with it's own secret language that only developers understand. I only see "The patch that landed adds Past events". That probably means that somebody created a few lines of code to fix the issue. But it will have to pass several stages of acceptance and testing and then it will be merged into an update.

I'm using the add-on mentioned above as temporary workaround, although it has issues with my network calendar (caldav - Nextcloud).

IMO https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1855900#c60 states it quite clearly, with "numbers of years".

128.2.0esr just came in, but it doesn't seem to include the fix. I'm missing a sense of urgency here.

Dowinload the addon All Events from https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/extensions/?sort=updated I'm sending image with my addon settings. It is working perfectly.

Dowinload the addon (...) It is working perfectly.

Not here. I'm having several issues with my network calendar (caldav - Nextcloud) when searching with this addon. It worked fine in TB 115.

128.2.0esr just came in, but it doesn't seem to include the fix. I'm missing a sense of urgency here.

To provide proper patch quality, there is a process - the patch must first on the development channel, then the beta channel for a period of time, and only then provided in esr. The beta which has the patch, 131.0b1, should be shipping today.

YeOldNerd said

128.2.0esr just came in, but it doesn't seem to include the fix. I'm missing a sense of urgency here.

To provide proper patch quality, there is a process - the patch must first on the development channel, then the beta channel for a period of time, and only then provided in esr. The beta which has the patch, 131.0b1, should be shipping today.

I understand that a process like that is needed, but this bug was reported 11 months ago! That is long before 128esr was offered as an update for 115 to the bulk of users. I don't understand Mozilla's policy here. If there is a serious regression, roll it back in the next minor update. Instead I see on that Bugzilla post people waste several months on endless discussions about how many years it should become. If Mozilla wants Thunderbird to become an alternative to Outlook, a tool that people use all day to organize and plan their work, don't treat serious regressions this way.

I desperately needed searching for All, past and future events. I don't have time to wait for the developers to fix this. So, I found a fix. I switched to KOrganizer. It is very similar to Thunderbird's calendar and has the search feature. I requires you to put in dates, but it works. In addition, you can color the event dates which Thunderbird got rid of some time age. I was using Lightning, but it only allowed a tiny bit of color on the event tabs. I am not going back to TB.