Kubuntu Focus Guided Solution: Email, Calendar, and Contacts Client

Configure Thunderbird

Email, Calendar, and Contacts Client

Manage emails, calendars, and contacts from multiple accounts using Mozilla Thunderbird

Background
Change the Theme
Install Provider Extension
Add Google Calendar(s)
Import Emails from Outlook PST
Import Contacts
Troubleshooting
Revisions
Disclaimer

Please read the disclaimer before proceeding. We review and update guided solutions like this regularly. If you have suggestions or requests, please write support@kfocus.org.

Kubuntu 22.04 provides Thunderbird as the default email and calendar solution. While we have often been fans of Kmail, Thunderbird is easier to set up and has a wider following. Thunderbird is much faster than web mail clients when you want to move messages between accounts or sort them quickly.

Change the Theme

Focus systems automatically install a compatible dark theme. However, if you wish to change it, you may click on Menu > Add-ons > Themes and then select Dark or other theme name.

Install Provider Extension

To integrate Google or other providers, click on Menu > AddOns > AddOns > Find more Extensions and type in provider to find the Provider for Google Calendar extension, add it to Thunderbird, and enable it.

Add Google Calendar(s)

To complete the calendar configuration, click on Menu > New > Calendar. When the wizard opens select Network and then enter your Gmail account and authorize access. We suggest you use the calendar as a mostly read-only view to avoid data conflict. See this FAQ which discusses some limitations. Mozilla also provides this guide which is frequently updated.

Import Emails from Outlook PST

You can import your Mail from Outlook using the guide below. This is summarized from this Ask Ubuntu discussion.

Open the file manager (Dolphin) and navigate to the directory where your placed your PST archive
Right-click on in the open space and select Open in terminal
In the terminal, run the following:

# Create a directory for export mail mkdir -p pst-export # Export the pst archive readpst -D -M -b -e -o pst-export name_of_your_archive.pst

Open Thunderbird
Navigate to TR Menu > Addons and Themes
Type into the search bar: "importexporttools"
Install ImportExportTools NG and then restart Thunderbird when asked.
Right-click on an account folder and create a new, temporary folder, e.g. Imported, to import the PST emails
Right-click on Imported folder and choose ImportExportNG> Import all messages from a directory > also from subdirectories
Select the pst-export directory you created above. Import will begin. Depending on the size of your archive, this can take several minutes.

Import Contacts

You can create a local mirror of contacts. This Lifewire article shows how to import contacts with a simple procedure. We recommend exporting frequently used contacts. Thunderbird will then provide auto-complete options.

Troubleshooting

Issues will be added as required.

Revisions

This is a partial revision history. See the git repository for all entries.

2024-03-18 fb9b592d Add syntax highlighting for codeblocks
2023-11-18 e770b1c6 Add search and help bar
2022-10-27 18235fe3 Add PST import section for Outlook email
2022-10-11 7c6e13f5 Audit and update images, remove large titles
2022-07-13 57bf7a6c Updae images
2022-06-29 6c5be0ab Revise for 22.04
2021-10-10 5728326e Reformat to 2-column
2021-09-22 dc862884 Update link and headline colors
2021-08-23 681261b4 Review and update codeblocks
2021-07-28 1b9cf29b Revise units to have a space after number
2021-05-13 bd1c1e01 Updated for Thunderbird 78
2020-10-23 497e1e7d First publication

Disclaimer

We try hard to provide a useful solution validated by professionals. However, we cannot anticipate every situation, and therefore cannot guarantee this procedure will work for your needs. Always backup your data and test the solution to determine the correct procedure for you.

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