Plain Text

TabMail’s compose features—including autocomplete and inline editing—work best with plaintext composition mode in Thunderbird.

Why plain text?

TabMail works best with the raw text of your emails to provide real-time suggestions and edits. HTML composition introduces formatting complexity that can interfere with these features.

Also, emails ARE supposed to be plain text!

How to enable plain text

TabMail can automatically configure this for you:

1. Open TabMail Settings from the toolbar or menu
2. Find the Compose Settings section
3. Click “Force Plaintext for All Identities”

This sets all your email identities to compose in plaintext mode.

What if I need HTML emails?

Autocomplete will still work, but it may interfere with the formatting of the email.

For the best experience with TabMail, we recommend keeping plain text as your default.

Checking your current status

In TabMail Settings, you’ll see a status indicator showing whether your identities are configured for plain text. If any identities are set to HTML, you’ll see a warning with the option to fix them.

Last updated: March 30, 2026