Closed Bug 531588 Opened 15 years ago Closed 14 years ago

Two windows open when thunderbird is launched/started/startup

Categories

(Thunderbird :: General, defect)

Product:
Thunderbird
Component:
General
Platform:
x86
Windows Vista
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
minor

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

People

(Reporter: dkuntz2, Unassigned)

References

Details

(Whiteboard: [before commenting see comment 12, comment 32] )

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US) AppleWebKit/532.3 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/4.0.223.16 Safari/532.3 Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091121 Thunderbird/3.0 When I launch thunderbird 3 rc1 (this is new, it did not happen with thunderbird 2), it opens two windows, each of the same thing. Really not much else to say. They're both the same window, saved in the same location as my last close (generally my primary account's inbox). It's nothing really important, just rather annoying I had this same problem with Postbox. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Click Start 2. Click on Thunderbird (which is the default system email client) 3. Wait for it to open, when it does, two windows will be open Additionally, if you were to open thunderbird through a different shortcut, or even the executable itself and not a shortcut, it still happens. Actual Results: Two windows, each exactly the same, open Expected Results: One window should have opened, not two. Theme: Default (haven't looked at others) Additionally, when I was using betas and the trial version of Postbox (the thunderbird derivative) it happened too.
Video of it happening: http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stVk5cS0VIR1xWRFpeW11eVVVU/thunderbird_3_rc1_two_windows_bug
Component: General → OS Integration
Version: unspecified → 3.0
Component: OS Integration → General
Funny effect :-(. Do you run thunderbird with extensions ? Is your system uptodate wrt to drivers and os updates ?
Anything in the system logs ? (eventvwr.exe ?)
Same here, but when it is ran in start-up, it opens three copies. Odd bug...
Don, Eric, is you issue gone if you start in safe mode? https://support.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/kb/Safe+Mode
Whiteboard: dupme
(In reply to comment #5) > Don, Eric, is you issue gone if you start in safe mode? > https://support.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/kb/Safe+Mode if you still see this please comment as to whether there are two tasks shown in taskmgr (task manager). and if it is gone, please set resolution to worksforme for now, => incomplete.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 14 years ago
Resolution: --- → INCOMPLETE
fwiw, the other examples are bug 495719 and bug 40622
I had this happen to me, and I "fixed" it by opening the task manager (control+alt+delete) and ending one of the two Thunderbird processes. Opening TB now produces just one window. I have no idea how the problem got started, or why this fix works.
I saw this issue on Thunderbird 17.0 yesterday on a Windows XP machine with three windows. I couldn't resolve it myself, and looking at the comments I discovered that Task Manager listed three Thunderbird windows under "Applications" tab, but one process under "Processes." I went to one of the Thunderbirds in the Applications list and ended that task. This caused all three to close immediately. When I ran Thunderbird again, one one came up. Therefore it was resolved for me with this workaround. Some peculiarities while it had three windows: At one point, I changed the option to check to see if Thunderbird was the default mail client. When I started Thunderbird, it would show the dialog box that allows you to choose whether Thunderbird is the default mail and news client. As soon as I closed that dialog, two other Thunderbird windows would open. When Thunderbird wasn't checking for this, all three windows would open immediately upon starting Thunderbird. The other thing to note is that the three windows start identically, but you can be viewing an Inbox on one window and the Sent folder on another window, etc. They were just like different instances of Thunderbird sort of like how Microsoft Excel can have multiple instances of itself with different spreadsheets. But of course the bug was that when you closed one instance, all three would close.
There is a way to reproduce this listed at https://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/two_message_windows_are_displayed_when_thunderbird_launches -- apparently, you can (via Albert Zuurbier March 08, 2013 21:33): "Open a message for reading, Drag the tab of the message to just outside the Thunderbird window. Now you have two windows that close and open together."
I see this too, in version v.31.1.1 for Linux Mint. Two windows everytime. Have not found workaround yet.
OK. I think Billy's comment 2013-03 can be the source: maybe at some point I/you we drag one tab out and that generated the new window. Then the problem is that Thunder Bird will keep memory of that and next time will open two windows (In my case 3, becuase I guess I took off the a tab twice), but both containing the main tab. The solution which has worked for me... EASY!: - Go to File->Close (NOT quit, but Close), that closes the window :) - With the last window, quit - Open ThunderBird, there is only one window, as expected. Hope this helps the user and the developers to solve this little but annoying bug. PS. I wonder whether ThunderBird has been developed with Eclipse... This sounds like the typical kind of troubles with Eclipse-developed tools.
Yes Luis, that solved it for me! Many thanks!
See Also: → 495719
Thanks Luis...it solved my issue on XP
You are all welcome. I feel relieved:after so long getting solutions from forums, I am glad to see I helped too. I find funny that this issue is still there I since 2009... But maybe the cause is that this bug appears as solved so nobody addresses it. :o
Thanks Luis, that solved my doom on Icedove 31.7 – Debian.
Thanks Luis, using TB on openSUSE 13.2. If it happens regularly, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+W (on MS Windows one would use Alt+F4)
Hi! This bug actual for new update TB 45.1.0 (Windows). Thank Luis his Comment 13 help me. Also useful this http://kb.mozillazine.org/Run_multiple_copies_of_Thunderbird_at_the_same_time
Same happened to me with TB 45.1.1 on Windows 10. Thanks to Mike Gattiker 2012-10-17 12:16:24 PDT, I also "fixed" it.
Juan, you may consider easier this way https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=531588#c12 BTW, I confirm that it seems to happen in any operative systems. I think this issue should be reopened. This is the problem of open source (which has many other advantages): there is no ownership and thinks can stay unsolved for ever.
Same bug still occured now with Thubderbird 45.2.0 on Windows 10. My accidental solution found by restarting desperately in safe mode, then quit, then in normal mode and all solved. Before that, I tried restarting my PC and no help.
Thank Najia! I had the same problem (Version/OS) - safe mode allowed me to close the second window without quitting Thunderbird, so this resolved my problem :)
I have thunderbird 45.4.0 on a windows 8.1 pro machine and it started doing the clic once open twice thing. So I checked this thread and someome mentioned the extensions, so I remembered I use MinimizetoTray, so deactivate it and restart thunderbird and the problem was solved. I then reactivate MinimizetoTray and restart and the issue is solved. Hope it helps.
I did experience a similar issue, for me it was due to the FireTray extension (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/firetray/). I fixed it by manually editing the 'session.json': https://binfalse.de/2016/09/25/thunderbird-opens-multiple-windows-on-startup/
Similar for me. Fixed with Luis' suggestion above. thunderbird 45.4.0-1 Linux 4.8.8-2-ARCH x86_64 Firetray 0.6.1
Same issue happened to me today. I accidentally clicked I-don't-know-where, and a second window appeared. The initial window contained several tabs (Inbox, Lightening, and tabs with messages). The new window contained only one tab with the default welcome page. Luis' suggestion (File/Close instead of File/Quit) on the second window made it closing and reopening immediately. Najia' suggestion (starting in Safe Mode) worked for me, even without selecting "Disable all add-ons" nor "Reset toolbars and controls". I don't have FireTray but another similar extension. Thunderbird 45.6.0, Windows 7 Add-ons: DOM Inspector, Folder Pane View Switcher, Lightening, MessageNotesPlus, MinimizeToTray Revived, Personas Plus, Random Signature, Remove Duplicate Messages, Sieve, Signature Switch, SmartTemplate4, Smiley Fixer, Toolbar Buttons.
Hi Sylvian, just to point out: - Usual case which brings up the problem: clicking on a tab and dragging it a bit, generates a new whole window with again the inbox plus the tab dragged. - The solution (workaround) I suggested was to, first, close that window using the menu, and then quit the last window also using the menu (I remember closing the window instead of menu seemed not to have the desired effect). Cheers PS. BTW, this issue happens in Windows 7,8,10,... Linux... As I commented I think the problem is at the core, and that I thought it would be Eclipse developed because has this kind of weird stuff. Solution, to use other way to move the tab out (possible with Eclipse).
Forgot to tell that the workaround STILL solves the problem in all the systems I know of. ;)
Since it is fully reproducible, I tried again :) Trial 1: From the main window W1, I dragged a tab W1Tx out. It created a second window W2 having 2 tabs : the tab W2T1 of the welcome page, and the tab W2T2 (= W1Tx). If restarting Thunderbird, W1 and W2 appeared again with those tabs. Then I closed T2 with its tab cross button. I closed W2 with the global window cross button. I restarted Thunderbird. Windows W1 and W2 appeared again, W2 having W2T1 (the welcome page). Trial 2: (following of Trial 1) Then I selected File/Close in the menu of W2. It didn't close the window, which is normal because I have the option mail.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab=FALSE. I changed that to TRUE, and I tried again File/Close, W2 actually closed. In the main window W1, I did the same thing, closing all the tabs, including the last tab using File/Close. Thunderbird quitted. When restarting, only windows W1 and its welcome tabs W1T1 appeared. Great ! Trial 3: (following of replaying Trial 1) I selected File/Quit in the menu of W2 (having only W2T1). Both W1 and W2 (and Thunderbird) closed. Which makes sense. If I start Thunderbird, they both appear again. This is normal. So your solution works, provided you use the menu File/Close and not the menu File/Quit. And provided the option mail.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab is set to TRUE (in Tools/Options/Advanced/General and button "Configuration Editor"), else you can't File/Close the last tab. Note 1: if any kind of Reduce-To-Tray add-ons is installed, depending on the parameters, clicking on the global window cross button may reduce the 2 windows in the tray bar. Which also makes sense. Note 2: Another way to get rid of the double instances, is to run Thunderbird in Safe Mode (hold Shift while starting Thunderbird). About this "bug" : When quitting Thunderbird, it is supposed to reopen all the tabs, whatever they are in a single or multiple windows. And we saw that, closing properly the "tab" (with Ctrl-W) allows to get rid of the second window. So I am still not sure whether this "bug" is a defect or a functionality... As you said, it might just be a way of specifying the code : - if there is a single instance of window, clicking the cross should quit, - if there are several instances, clicking the cross should... do what ? and depending on which instance ? It seems most of the people expect that it will close all the tabs and the window itself, without exiting Thunderbird if other instances exist. :)
My two cents: A feature is something users demand. A problem is something that users complain about. Bug is a technical definition: working against what it was intended to. And that should be irrelevant. Does the user believe it is a problem? Then it doesnt matter whether it was specified (or a happy idea of a developer): it was not what the user wanted and shouldnt exist. In this case I think the whole problem is that it replicates a whole instance of thunderbird window instead of popping out only the tab. Still you might be right and people demanded that, I didnt check but what I found is that this is interpreted as a problem by many people. PS. I am computer engineer and moved from tech to management and doing that, also to the user perspective. ;)
How many years will we wait more? It's annoying and stupid. Fix it!
For reasons which may not be apparent, Don's report (this bug) is stands on it's own, was closed for reasons related to the information he posted at that time, and will therefore stay closed. So if you have an issue this is not the place to comment or seek remedy. To resolved your issue please read on. Thunderbird uses session restore, such that you get the same windows on startup as when you closed Thunderbird. In addition, there are addons and other situations which can cause multiple windows which are beyond Thunderbird's control. However, if you have a situation that reproduces when ALL of the following conditions are met, then please file a NEW bug report: 1. one window on Thunderbird shutdown 2. multiple windows when Thunderbird is started in SAFE mode https://support.mozilla.org/t5/Troubleshooting/Safe-Mode-Thunderbird/ta-p/14020 For all other situations (i.e. only one of above is applicable, or neither), please post in the support forum https://support.mozilla.org/t5/forums/postpage/category-id/Mozilla-EN/choose-node/true/interaction-style/forum
Summary: Two windows open when thunderbird is launched → Two windows open when thunderbird is launched/started/startup
Whiteboard: dupme → [before commenting see comment 12, comment 32]
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