en	[[!meta title="Why is Tails installing Thunderbird as additional software?"]]

en	Since Tails 7.5 (February 2026), Tails tries to automatically install *Thunderbird* as [[additional software|persistent_storage/additional_software]] to improve its security.

en	A new version of *Thunderbird* is released in Debian shortly after each Tails release, because both *Tails* and *Thunderbird* follow the [[release calendar of *Firefox*|https://whattrainisitnow.com/calendar/]]. As a consequence, until Tails 7.5 (February 2026), the version of *Thunderbird* in Tails was almost always outdated, with known security vulnerabilities.

en	By installing *Thunderbird* as additional software, the latest version of *Thunderbird* is installed automatically from your Persistent Storage each time you start Tails.

en	Tails also tries to install as additional software the language package that corresponds to the language of your first session with Tails 7.5 or later. To use *Thunderbird* in another language, see how to [[use *Thunderbird* in another language|thunderbird#language]].

en	*Thunderbird* will no longer be included by default in Tails 7.8 (May 2026) and later.

en	[[!toc startlevel=2]]

en	Successful migration

en	If the **Thunderbird Migration** dialog below appears when you start *Thunderbird*, it means that Tails successfully installed *Thunderbird* as additional software.

en	[[!img success.png class="screenshot" alt="Thunderbird Migration: Tails installed Thunderbird as additional software to improve its security."]]

en	Manual migration

en	If the **Thunderbird Migration** notification below appears when you start Tails, it means that Tails failed to install *Thunderbird* as additional software because the [[Additional Software|persistent_storage/additional_software]] feature of your Persistent Storage is turned off.

en	Select **Install as Additional Software** next time you start Tails to turn on the Additional Software feature of your Persistent Storage and add *Thunderbird* to your list of additional software.

en	[[!img manual.png class="screenshot" alt="Thunderbird Migration: You should install Thunderbird as additional software."]]

en	Failed migration

en	If the **Thunderbird Migration** notification below appears when you start Tails, it means that Tails failed to install *Thunderbird* as additional software for unknown reasons.

en	Please [[report an error|first_steps/whisperback]] to help us troubleshoot your problem.

en	[[!img failure.png class="screenshot" alt="Thunderbird Migration: Tails failed to install Thunderbird as additional software."]]