Install Latest 'Thunderbird' Email Client in Linux Systems

Thunderbird is an open-source free cross-platform web based email, news, and chat client application that is designed to handle multiple email accounts and news feeds.

On July 17, 2020, the Mozilla team announced the release of Thunderbird 78.0. This new version comes with a new look and plethora of new features and they are:

Thunderbird 78.0 Features

1. New Account Hub for centralized account setup.
2. New config option to anonymize message date header.
3. Added Global Search item in-app menu.
4. Various bug fixes and improvements in performance.
5. Various security fixes.

Check out more about what’s new features and known issues for Thunderbird 78.0 version at Thunderbird Release Note.

This article will explain to you how to install Thunderbird email client on Linux distributions such as Fedora, Ubuntu, and its derivatives.

In many Linux distributions Thunderbird package included by default, and can be installed using the default package management system, because it will:

1. Ensure that you have all the needed libraries
2. Adds a desktop shortcut to launch Thunderbird
3. Make Thunderbird accessible to all system users on your computer
4. It may not offer you the latest version of Thunderbird

Install Thunderbird Email Client in Linux

To install Thunderbird from the default system repositories issue:

$ sudo apt-get install thunderbird   [On Ubuntu based systems]
$ dnf install thunderbird            [On Fedora based systems]

As I said, installing from default repositories will give you an older version of Thunderbird. If you want to install the most recent version of Mozilla Thunderbird, you can use the PPA maintained by the Mozilla team.

Use CTRL + ALT + T from the desktop to open a terminal and add the Thunderbird repository under Ubuntu and its derivatives.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa

Next, update the system software packages using the update command.

$ sudo apt-get update

Once you’ve updated the system, install it using the following command.

$ sudo apt-get install thunderbird

Alternatively, you can use the Snap Store to install the latest version of Thunderbird on Linux as shown.

$ sudo snap find thunderbird
$ sudo snap install thunderbird

Thunderbird Preview Running Thunderbird in Ubuntu

That’s it, you’ve successfully installed Thunderbird 78.0 under your Linux system. Thunderbird is also available for other operating systems on the Thunderbird download page.