Configuring Thunderbird to use Gmail

Setting up email

The first thing to setup is your email. This is fairly simple. Follow these steps:

1. Enable IMAP in Gmail
2. In Thunderbird, select Tools -> Account Settings
3. Click Add Account
4. Select the Email Account radio button and click Next
5. Enter your full name in the Your Name field. Enter your Gmail address (username@gmail.com) in the Email Address field, then click Next
6. Select IMAP as the type of incoming server. For Incoming Server, type “imap.gmail.com”. For Outgoing Server, type “smtp.gmail.com”. Click Next
7. Enter your full email address (including @gmail.com) in the Incoming User Name and Outgoing User Name fields, then click Next
8. Enter a name for you email account in the Account Name field, and click Next
9. Verify your account information and click Finish
10. Click on Tools -> Account Settings
11. Click on Server Settings
12. Set the Port value to 993
13. In the Security Settings section, select SSL from the Use Secure Connection option
14. Select the “Check for messages at startup” and “Check for new messages every 10 minutes” checkboxes
15. Click on Outgoing Server (SMTP) in the folder list
16. Select the smtp.gmail.com (Default) entry from the list and click Edit
17. Enter “smtp.gmail.com as the Server Name and set the Port to 587
18. Check the “Username and password” checkbox and enter your full email address in the User Name field
19. Select TLS from the Use Secure Connection radio button and click OK
20. Click OK to save your changes.

Setting up calendar

This is done in two parts. First you need to add the calendar feature to Thunderbird using the Lightning add on, and then you have to install the Provider for Google Calendar add on to be able to synchronize between Thunderbird and Gmail

Lightning

1. Click here to download Lightning. Make sure you save it to your hard drive
2. In Thunderbird, click on Tools -> Add-ons
3. Click the Install button, then select the file you downloaded and click OK
4. Restart Thunderbird to finish the installation

The first time you run Thunderbird after installing Lightning, be sure to go to the Lightning pane in the Options dialog and manually set your timezone correctly, and then restart Thunderbird once more. This will prevent your events from being created in wrong timezone.

Provider for Google Calendar

1. Click here to download Provider. Make sure you save it to your hard drive
2. In Thunderbird, click on Tools -> Add-ons
3. Click the Install button, then select the file you downloaded and click OK
4. Restart Thunderbird to finish the installation

Synchronizing contacts

In the web browser

1. Click here to download gContactSync. Make sure you save it to your hard drive
2. Sign into Gmail, open contacts, and click on Export
3. Select Everyone, chose Google CVS Format and click Export
4. Chose Save File to save the file and click OK

In Thunderbird

1. Click address book, then Tools -> Export and save the address book. Do this for every address book. This step is only for back up purposes
2. Close address book and click Tools -> Add-ons in Thunderbird
3. Click Install and install gContactSync
4. Restart Thunderbird to complete installation
5. Open address book and sign in using Gmail username and password
6. Select address book to sync with. Leave all other options checked

You should now be able to send and receive emails, update calendar entries, and synchronize contacts all from Thunderbird. Below, you will find direct links for all the software needed.

Downloads

Thunderbird 2.0.0.17
Portable Thunderbird 2.0.0.17
Lightning 0.9
Provider 0.5.1
gContactSync 0.1.1