Thunderbird - Resizing main window should not resize width of list

[DoctorDan]

When I resize the main window horizontally, it is usually because I need to see more of the message. The list in the center of the screen is at the size I have determined to be adequate. It does NOT need to be widened unless I choose to do so.

Therefore making the main window wider should only resize the message pane. It should leave the width of the tree and list panes untouched.

As it it is, it is very inefficient and annoying because I am always forced to to a second resize operation to correct the width of the list.

The current behavior is annoying, counter-productive and counter-intuitive.

Thank you

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[BigJay517]

I was just about to request the same change.  I agree!

Typically I use Thunderbird maximized on one monitor and evenly divide the Message List width and the Message Pane width across the window.  If I reduce the window size of Thunderbird from Max this causes the Message Pane to stay roughly the same size, but squish the Message List to a very small size.  This reduces the amount of preview text available.

[bliles]

100% agree, resizing the window should adjust the width of the message pane, not the message list pane.

[fghvbn]

I hope we are talking about same problem, just to be sure I will add more detailed description from my point of view.

Based on terminology in this topic: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-change-thunderbird-layout

In Vertical view, resizing main Thunderbird window keeps message pane same size and it resizes message list pane. This is totally useless and makes no sence. I have to change Message List : Message view ratio every time I move Thunderbird from one screen to another (multiple screens, different resolutions). Correct behavior is to keep message list same size (same as folder pane) and resize only message view pane.

Current state:

Correct behavior:

I hope it is fixed soon. I like to use Firefox and Thunderbird as my main browser and mail app, but this behavior is very anoying.

Thanks

[DoctorDan]

This should have been obvious.  Who ever thought the current behaior is helpful probably doesn't use email that much or is totally insensitive to waste of time it causex

[StevieP]

Very very annoying - I have a 1440p monitor and a 1080p monitor and I move Thunderbird between monitors depending on the work I'm doing. On my 1080p monitor it looks fine. If I move it to the 1440p monitor, does the message window increase? No! I get a TON of blank space to the right of the mail list in the centre. If I remove the blank space by widening the message window and then drag it back to my 1080p screen, my mail list gets squished because it keeps the message window width!

Whoever thought this was a good idea should revise their decision because it's just BAD plain & simple.

[PedroLor]

There is a bug opened 5 months ago and assigned last month:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1877326

[FF_CCSa1F]

This behaviour is not present in 102.15.1. In that version, both the message list and the reading pane are resized together. This is not optimal behaviour, but it's extremely preferable to the new behaviour. In Thunderbird 115, shrinking the window horizontally renders the message list unusable.

[billbillw]

I also agree that this is frustrating when using the vertical orientation with a message pane. It has become more noticeable since I started using a single ultrawide screen monitor (3440x1440 pixels). I usually have the windows tiled in various configurations to see my work. Every time I do anything to the Thunderbird window, I'm having to adjust the width of the message list. It should be locked to a width that shows the sender, subject, and date, or whatever configuration you prefer. Scale the width of the message pane to use the extra window space.