You may now install uBlock Origin in Thunderbird

Thunderbird users may install add-ons for the email client to add new features and other improvements to the application. The selection of available add-ons is large and includes add-ons to archive old emails automatically, verify DKIM signatures, sort mail folders manually, or add Send Later functionality to the email program.

Now, Thunderbird users may also install the popular content blocker uBlock Origin directly. The change was revealed yesterday on the official GitHub repository of the project.

Thunderbird users may select Tools > Add-ons and Themes in the application to open the Add-ons Manager. There, they may select Add-ons, if not selected already, and use the search to find uBlock Origin.

The extension has no users currently as it is brand new. A click on it and then another on the install option starts the installation process. It should be listed under add-ons afterwards.

Thunderbird users find the uBlock Origin button in the mail toolbar afterwards. It is not active all the time, but that is understandable, considering that an email program works differently than browsers.

Emails are not touched right now by the content blocker. The maker of uBlock Origin, Gorhill, explained this here. According to Gorhill, uBlock Origin does not have access to emails at this stage and that it may be used to process feeds displayed in the email client currently only.

Thunderbird may be used to display RSS feeds in the client. It is not the best RSS Feed reader, but it may work for users who subscribe to a small number of feeds. These feeds are downloaded when accessed and they may contain elements that users may not want to see.

To view RSS feeds, Thunderbird users need to create a Feed account in the Account Manager. This account is then listed in the sidebar, and feeds may either be imported from another supported program, or added manually.

Most Thunderbird users, every user who does not read feeds in the email client, may not need to install the current version of uBlock Origin. This may change in the future, especially if functionality such as tracker blocking could be implemented for emails.

You may now install uBlock Origin in Thunderbird