How to retrieve stored email passwords in Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is one of the widely used email client today. Besides being free, it is fast, stable and reliable. However, as an email client, there are still people who want to access their emails in two ways: 1) using Thunderbird and 2) using a web browser.

Using a web browser to access your email is very important for portability. Suppose that your Thunderbird is installed in your home desktop. When you are away from home, you need to use the web browser to access your emails outside Thunderbird.

What if you have already forgotten your email passwords because you are complacent that you are no longer asked for the password when you want to access your emails? This is basically the one most common scenario for most people. They setup their email account in Thunderbird. Once working, they can easily forget their password since Thunderbird is no longer asking for it. Can you relate?

Now, if you want or need to access your email account outside of Thunderbird, you will be surprised that you are being prompted for a password. And you might think, Thunderbird must have stored your password that you once set up somewhere in your computer or in Thunderbird.

You are correct. Thunderbird, especially the most recent version, stores your email account passwords and you can surely revisit them if you need them or if you need to access your email accounts outside Thunderbird. Here are the steps to show your email account passwords:

Revealing Stored Account Passwords in Mozilla Firefox

1. Open your Mozilla Thunderbird
2. Click on the Tools menu and then click Options.

3. If you do not see the menu bar at the top, press the ALT key. Another way to access Options when the menu bar is missing is by clicking on the Thunderbird Menu button that looks like a 3-horizontal line icon at the end of the Search box. Click on Options and then click on Options again.

4. The Options dialog box shall show up.
5. Click on the Security tab.
6. In its sub-tabs, click on Passwords.
7. Finally, click on the Saved Passwords… button.

1. This will give you a list of all your email accounts in your Thunderbird and their stored password information.
2. Click on the Show Passwords button and then click YES when prompted.
3. You shall see the passwords in your email accounts in the Password column.

That’s it! You can now take note of your passwords and you can now access your emails outside your Thunderbird!