View source for Thunderbird:Help Documentation:Using the Address Book

The Address Book allows you to track and edit contact information

=Accessing the Address Book=
Choose one of the following two options:
* [[#Open Thunderbird Then Open Address Book|Open Thunderbird Then Open Address Book]] 
* [[#Open Address Book Only|Open Address Book Only]] 

==Open Thunderbird Then Open Address Book==
You can access the Address Book from the main window, the compose window or any message window.
To access the Address Book:
# Click <code>Tools</code> ► <code>Address Book</code>
# Press <code>Ctrl+2</code>
# Click the <code>Address Book</code> icon on the toolbar

==Open Address Book Only==
Most users open the Thunderbird address book from within the email client. That is great as long as the program is already open. But what if you want to open the address book only when Thunderbird is not running on the system? For example, you need to frequently open your address book. But you do not need to open Thunderbird. Or your present device has limited resource. And is not able to open both Thunderbird & the address book at the same time. How do you open only the Address Book? To resolve this challenge, depending on your operating system, choose the following two options, either [[#Linux|Linux]] or [[#Windows|Windows]].

===Linux===

====Debian====
1. Using any free [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] application to your liking to edit the GNOME menu. Such as, but not limited to [https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=menulibre&searchon=names&suite=stable&section=all MenuLibre]. Add a new launcher:

* Name: <code>Address Book Thunderbird</code>

* Command: <code>thunderbird -addressbook</code>

2. Using GNOME, search for <code>Address Book Thunderbird</code> launcher. Open it.

3. Only the Thunderbird Address Book will open. Done. You have successfully created a launcher to open only the Address Book of Thunderbird. Enjoy :)

===Windows===

====Versions 7 or 8====
# Using Windows, navigate to the Mozilla Thunderbird folder on your computer. The default installation folder under Windows is <code>C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\</code>
# Right-click the <code>thunderbird.exe</code> file. Select <code>Create Shortcut</code> option. Save it in that directory. Or alternatively, save it on the desktop if restrictions prevent the saving to the same directory.
# Right-click the shortcut afterwards and select <code>Properties</code> from the context menu. Locate the Target path in the Shortcut tab and add <code>-addressbook</code> at the end of it. The end result needs to read <code>"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook</code>. Double check that you leave a blank space between the closing quote <code>"</code> and the <code>-addressbook</code> prefix. 
# Click on <code>Apply</code> button. Click on <code>OK</code> button. 
# Double-click the shortcut you created above. If things went right, you should now see the address book open up immediately. Done. You have successfully created a shortcut to open only the Address Book of Thunderbird.

=Creating Contacts=
Contacts can be added in several ways: from directly within the address book, from message headers or from the body of any message
;Adding contacts from within the Address Book
*Click <code>File</code> ► <code>New</code> ► <code>Address Book Card</code>
*Click <code>Ctrl+N</code>
*Click <code>New Card</code> on the toolbar
;Adding contacts from message headers or text
*If the desired contact address is located in a message header, click the contact and select Add to Address Book
*If the desired contact address is located within message text, right-click the contact and select Add to Address Book

=Parts of the Contact Record=
==Contact Tab==
http://img227.echo.cx/img227/3646/contacttab8sg.png

Of note in this tab is the information in the Internet section:
*Email: Primary email address for the contact
*Additional Email: Secondary email for the contact
*Prefers to receive messages formatted as: When writing a new message to this contact, the message will be created in the preferred format
*Screen Name: AOL Instant Messenger screen name '''(has the IM functionality been fully implemented yet?)'''
==Address Tab==
http://img167.echo.cx/img167/5092/addresstab0su.png
==Other Tab==
http://img181.echo.cx/img181/2654/othertab8jk.png

My mailing lists did not transfer from Eudora 7 to 8?  Is there a way to do that?

In general is there a guide to help people making the upgrade?

=See also=
*[[Thunderbird:Help Documentation:Connecting to an LDAP address book|Connecting to an LDAP address book]]