Sending and Sharing files via Thunderbird from within other apps

[HeadNorth]

Hi there. After 30 yrs of Windows I just got my first MacBook Pro. So far so good, but it is a bit of a learning curve. So, I'm hoping to glean some information and help from the community here as I make the transition.

With the time I've spent in the Windows environment, I have certain programs that I'm used to and want to continue using. Thunderbird is one of those. I've got two issues related to Thunderbird that I'm trying to resolve.

1. It's up and running fine in Sonoma, sending and receiving as it should... except when I'm in Libre Office and want to send a document that I'm working on using the "File > Send > Email Document" command from the File menu. When I attempt to do this, the native Mail app opens instead of Thunderbird. Is there a way to get Thunderbird to be the app that opens?

2. Also, when attempting to share a file from the Finder, Thunderbird is not an available option. When I select "Edit Extensions", the Thunderbird icon shows in the list but there is no check box next to it so I can not select it as a sharing option. Is there a way I can make Thunderbird a usable option for sharing?

Thanks for your help!

 

[bogdanw]

When I attempt to do this, the native Mail app opens instead of Thunderbird. Is there a way to get Thunderbird to be the app that opens?

Change the default email app on Mac
https://support.apple.com/102362

 

[HeadNorth]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that I already have Thunderbird.app selected as default email reader in the Mail app settings. I have gotten that far but no farther.

 

[bogdanw]

Try LibreOffice – Preferences (⌘,) - Internet – Email select /Applications/Thunderbird.app/ and Apply.

 

[HeadNorth]

Ok. So, that does open the Thunderbird app now but does not open the email composition window or attach the document to an email. It does however open another copy of the document.

Thanks for your efforts here. I do appreciate the help.

 

[bogdanw]

Instead of /Applications/Thunderbird.app/, try with /Applications/Thunderbird.app/Contents/MacOS/thunderbird
It's working in Monterey.

 

[HeadNorth]

That did it! Thank you for your help on this.

Any thoughts on the other issue regarding having Thunderbird as a Share option?

 

[bogdanw]

I've tried some suggestions from https://superuser.com/questions/1606313/share-menu-mail-option-missing-in-osx-big-sur but it's still not displayed as an option. I’ll try more tomorrow directly on Sonoma.

 

[bogdanw]

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working in Sonoma. I think Thunderbird doesn’t have the extension needed for share to work in macOS.

If you are interested, I can explain step by step how to create a QuickAction based on this script https://www.macscripter.net/t/attach-file-to-thunderbird-mail/52085

 

[HeadNorth]

Thanks for looking into this. Yes, if it's not too much trouble, if there's a way around this limitation that would allow TB to be a share option, I would like to know. I'm guessing other TB users coming from Windows would benefit as well. Thanks again.

 

[bogdanw]

Open Automator (/Applications/Automator) – New - QuickAction – Workflow receives “files or folders” – in Finder – in the left search box enter AppleScript and drag “Run AppleScript” into the right side, copy-paste the code:

on run
    tell application "Finder"
        set finderitems to (selection as list)
    end tell
    set filepaths to {}
    repeat with finderitem in finderitems
        set iteminfo to info for (finderitem as alias)
        if not folder of iteminfo then
            set filepaths to filepaths & (POSIX path of (finderitem as Unicode text))
        end if
    end repeat
    my send_mail(filepaths)
end run

on send_mail(email_files)
    try
        set thunderbird_bin to "/Applications/Thunderbird.app/Contents/MacOS/thunderbird-bin -compose "
        set attachments to "attachment='"
        repeat with a_file in email_files
            if a_file as string is (last item of email_files) then
                set attachments to attachments & "file://" & a_file
            else
                set attachments to attachments & "file://" & a_file & ","
            end if
        end repeat
        set arguments to attachments & "'"
        do shell script thunderbird_bin & quoted form of arguments
    on error error_message number error_number
        log error_message & " " & error_number
    end try
end send_mail

Save as SendWithThunderbird (or some other name). Now, when you select one or more files in Finder, right-click and from the Quick Action menu select SendWithThunderbird. A new message will be created in Thunderbird with the files attached.

How the QuickAction should look in Automator

Apple’s documentation: Create a workflow in Automator on Mac https://support.apple.com/guide/automator/aut7cac58839/mac

 

[HeadNorth]

Works great! And I learned something new. Didn't know about the Automater. Thanks so much.

 

[bogdanw]

Glad it works. I forgot to mention something, you can assign a shortcut, like ⌘S, to the QuickAction in System Settings – Keyboard – Keyboard Shortcuts – Services – Files and Folders - SendWithThunderbird

 

[HeadNorth]

Nice! Thank you.