Why Thunderbird Not Responding Windows 11? Top Fix Ideas

  

Mark Regan
Published: July 12th, 2025 • 7 Min Read

Are you also trying to configure a Thunderbird account on your Windows system and find out that Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 or 10? If yes, then this is the blog that can help you fix this issue effortlessly.

Thus, in this error, a user becomes unable to run Thunderbird and configure their account on their Windows operating system, which ultimately limits the user’s productivity and makes them anxious about this problem.

However, there are multiple reasons behind this Thunderbird not responding to Windows 10 issue, such as outdated Thunderbird, corruption in the profile, plugin issues, and more. Hence, to resolve all of them, read this complete blog, which covers everything from the possible reason behind Thunderbird not responding to Windows 11 to the prominent direct/indirect solutions to fix it.

Reason Behind Thunderbird Not Responding Windows 11

• The primary reason is that the user might be using an outdated Thunderbird edition on their device.
• Any corruption in the Thunderbird profile, files, or folders also led to Thunderbird not responding Windows 10 issues.
• Apart from this, Thunderbird plugins or add-ons that are faulty also cause such errors when running Thunderbird.
• In addition to this, having no storage in the Thunderbird mailbox or folders with large amounts of data also restricts Thunderbird’s proper functioning.
• Over and above this, if the Windows OS is not updated, then also issues like Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 or 10 happen.
• Last but not least, blacklisting by antivirus, insufficient storage, or corrupted installation of Thunderbird files can also cause this problem.

Fix Thunderbird Not Responding Windows 10 or 11 Manually

There are multiple solutions that assist an individual to effortlessly resolve the Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 issue. However, all of them have some limitations that make them a little unreliable to practice without taking a backup of Thunderbird files. So, have a quick look at them and find out which one works for you.

1. Launch Thunderbird in Safe Mode

1. First of all, close the running Thunderbird.
2. Now, press the keys Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
3. In this given field, type thunderbird -safe-mode.
4. Once done, click on the OK button.
5. This will run Thunderbird and fix the issue of Thunderbird not responding Windows 11.

Limitation: This is just a temporary solution, and with this, the customized features such as toolbars, themes, and more also get disabled, which ultimately hamper productivity.

2. Update Thunderbird Email Client

1. First of all, run Thunderbird on your system.
2. Then, click on Help from the ribbon menu.
3. Now, choose About Thunderbird from the drop-down list.
4. Further, check if there is any update or not.
5. If yes, then update Thunderbird, and you are one step closer to resolving Thunderbird not responding Windows 10.

3. Create New Thunderbird Profile

1. First of all, close the running Thunderbird.
2. Then, press the keys Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
3. After this, type the command thunderbird.exe -p to directly open the Profile Manager.
4. Once done, click on Create Profile and select the Next button.
5. Now, name the new Thunderbird file and select the Finish option.
6. Furthermore, select the recently created Thunderbird profile.
7. And, finally, click on Start Thunderbird to overcome the Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 error.

Limitation: Following this solution will not transfer the old Thunderbird data to the new profile, which is a limitation and restricts the user from accessing the required past data.

4. Turn off the Hardware Acceleration

1. The very first step is to run Thunderbird.
2. Then, go to Tools and choose the Settings option.
3. Once done, scroll down the page to Under General.
4. There, uncheck the option “Use hardware acceleration when available”.
5. Finally, restart Thunderbird to fix the Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 issue.

Limitations: Turning off these options sometimes impacts the performance of Thunderbird by making it slow.

5. Repair the Folder File

1. Open Thunderbird on your system.
2. Then, right-click on the folder.
3. Further, select the Properties option from the drop-down.
4. Now, in the pop-up window, select the Repair Folder option.
5. Wait a while and restart Thunderbird to resolve Thunderbird not responding to Windows 10.

Limitations: This method cannot fix or repair Thunderbird folders with major corruption. Thus, if there is any minor corruption within the Thunderbird folder, only then does it help.

6. Check System Firewall Blacklist

1. Open the system’s antivirus.
2. Now, in the blacklist, search for thunderbird.exe.
3. If present there, uncheck that to make it restriction-free.
4. Also, make sure that none of the other apps are stopping the functioning of Thunderbird.

Limitations: There is a high chance that with this solution, the data may be at risk since digital invaders can easily access the system and the data in it.

7. Reinstall Thunderbird On the Device

1. Before following this step, make sure to take a backup of Thunderbird.
2. Once done, delete Thunderbird completely from your device.
3. After this, open the official website of Thunderbird on your system.
4. From there, download the latest edition of Thunderbird.
5. Next, transfer the backed-up data into the newly downloaded Thunderbird software.

Limitations: If the user does not take the backup completely and safely, then they can lose their important data forever.

8. Turn Off Windows Compatibility Mode

1. Navigate to the Thunderbird.exe file on your device.
2. Then, right-click on it and select the Properties option from the drop-down.
3. Now, navigate to the Compatibility tab and uncheck “Run this program in compatibility mode for”.
4. Further, click on Apply and then hit the OK button to save.
5. Finally, restart Thunderbird and the issue related to Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 will be fixed.

Limitations: This method may help to fix Thunderbird not responding to Windows 10, but it can also make the hardware work inappropriately in some cases.

9. Fix the Thunderbird Layout

1. Firstly, close the running Thunderbird on your device.
2. Then, open the profile location which usually is C:\Users\<Name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<random>.default\
3. Now, from there, delete the files “xulstore.json\session.json”.
4. Once done, restart Thunderbird, and you can fix the Mozilla Thunderbird not working Windows 11 issue.

Limitation: With this solution, there is a high chance of data loss and alteration.

10. Troubleshoot Thunderbird

1. Run Thunderbird on your system.
2. Then, click on the three horizontal line menu button.
3. Now, select the Help option and choose Troubleshoot Mode.
4. Once done, hit the Restart button in the prompt.
5. Further, select Continue in Troubleshoot Mode in the confirmation pop-up.
6. With this, one can swiftly fix the Thunderbird not working with Windows 10 issue.

What Do Professionals Suggest For This?

There are a lot of limitations and restrictions in the conventional way to fix such errors. Therefore, in such a case, experts often suggest a professional utility such as the BitRecover Thunderbird File Converter tool. It has 30+ saving modes, multiple data selection modes, a saving location option, a file naming option, and more.

Thus, it allows the user to take the backup of Thunderbird files with attachments, convert them to a healthier MBOX, transfer the data from one Thunderbird profile to another, or change the email client with complete data from Thunderbird to another one. The best thing about this software is that it is very easy to use and has multiple advanced options, which ensure quality and accurate output with minimal effort and resource consumption. The quick steps to use this solution to fix Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 are as follows:

1. Install the software on your Windows device.
   
2. Then, run it and choose the Thunderbird files using the given selection modes.
   
3. Further, choose one saving option such as MBOX, Gmail, etc.
   
4. Give the saving location or account credentials according to the saving mode.
   
5. Finally, click on Convert to overcome the Thunderbird not responding Windows 11 problem.
   

Conclusion

In this blog post, we shared multiple solutions to fix the Thunderbird not working with Windows 11 issue. However, they all have some limitations, and that is why experts always suggest using the above-mentioned professional tool. The best thing is that it also offers a demo edition, which is completely free of cost and lets first-time users test its efficiency before getting the paid license.