Showing proper "to" email for incoming mail (vs hiding behind mailing list name)

Thunderbird
#1

I can’t seem to find an addon that allows for this. I have a large number of email addresses as I manage many things between personal, hobby and work. However, when I reply to some of the emails that come in, it defaults the email I am sending from to the first one in the list if they sent to me hidden behind a mailing list in the to field.

For example, the top of the email would say:

In order to know WHICH email that person sent the email to, I have to right click on the email body area, go to “Copy to clipboard” and “Headers”, and paste the information into notepad, scroll all the way up and look for “Envelope-to:” to find out.

JohnDoe-Example
JohnDoe-Example.jpg1084×127 42.7 KB

I’d like to be able to see the address from the “Envelope-to” value I guess, in the main email window with the to/subject/from details at least. Even if Thunderbird can’t read it on the reply to default to the right address in the list automatically. I can at least save a ton of time by looking at the window and knowing immediatly which email address/account to reply from.

I hope I described the information enough. But the best way to say it is I need to say “Envelope-to” show up in the image above :slight_smile:

#2

Tried turning off the option to use display names from the address book?
Options > display > Advanced

#3

That sadly isn’t going to do anything. That isn’t going to change which email address in the headers the “to” field is going to display as it’s coming in. Thunderbird is still not going to know which account to reply with, thus will default to the first account in the account list.

I need Thunderbird to be able to reply to an email with the address (my address) the sender sent it to. However, if they send it to themselves, and put my name in BCC (usually a practice when sending out lists), Thunderbird won’t know when replying. Or at least have Thunderbird display the “Envelope-to:” information along with the to/from/subject area, so I can more quickly see which account to select form the list to respond from.

I would have thought that there would easily be a plugin to display more fields within the to/from/subject area (gray section between the email list and the currently open email). It isn’t the quickest option but it still saves me time from not having to copy the headers, paste them in notepad and look for the “Envelope-to:” line. But nope. Not a single plugin.

#4

Have a look at identities. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-identities

I would also suggest you try using the View menu to set View headers to all. That will make a huge difference to what is displayed in the message header pane.

#5

Nope. I have tried that. It doesn’t display that header value.
I finally found a worse-worse-case scenario. I just downloaded this plugin: https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/columnswizard/

Looking a the latest comment, I found the referenced document and the css line and added it the right file (so it will work properly in TB 60.x) and loaded the add-on into Thunderbird. I then added a custom column to show that header value. It isn’t in the header display area, and it clutters my already busy columns up, but I at least can see the information now within the email list.

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