Updating Thunderbird 78 to 91 on Ubuntu 20.04

I propably took a wrong way to update Thunderbird. I found in Ubuntu Software the TB icon for the new 91.4.0 version (December 29th 2021) and clicked the Install button.

When restarting email, it still opened the old 78.14.0 (from my Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS). Clicking Applications icon I can find two identical Thunderbird icons. I understand there is somewhere a kind of starting points for two different versions of TB, but of course it is important to change the default. Should I manipulate those or do something differently from beginning?

I could not find a direct answer from How to update Thunderbird 78 to 91 on Ubuntu 20.04? or anyway I need more detailed instructions. I am not very used to apt but noticed by apt show -a thunderbird there are two TB packages but propably neither is the newest:

Package: thunderbird
Version: 1:78.14.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.2
Priority: optional
Section: mail
Origin: Ubuntu
Maintainer: Ubuntu Mozilla Team <>
Bugs:
Installed-Size: 210 MB
Provides: mail-reader
Depends: libatk1.0-0 (>= 1.12.4), libc6 (>= 2.30), libcairo-gobject2 (>= 1.10.0), libcairo2 (>= 1.10.0), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.9.14), libdbus-glib-1-2 (>= 0.78), libfontconfig1 (>= 2.12.6), libfreetype6 (>= 2.10.1), libgcc-s1 (>= 3.3), libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.31.8), libgtk-3-0 (>= 3.4), libharfbuzz0b (>= 0.6.0), libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangocairo-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangoft2-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libstdc++6 (>= 9), libx11-6, libx11-xcb1 (>= 2:1.6.9), libxcb-shm0, libxcb1, libxcomposite1 (>= 1:0.4.5), libxcursor1 (>> 1.1.2), libxdamage1 (>= 1:1.1), libxext6, libxfixes3, libxi6, libxrender1, libxt6
Recommends: myspell-en-us | hunspell-dictionary | myspell-dictionary, libcanberra0, libdbusmenu-glib4, libdbusmenu-gtk3-4
Suggests: thunderbird-gnome-support, ttf-lyx, libotr5
Conflicts: mozilla-thunderbird
Breaks: enigmail (<< 2:2.2), jsunit (<< 0.2.2-2ubuntu1), thunderbird-gnome-support (<= 3.0.4+nobinonly-0ubuntu3), tinyjsd (<< 1.2+git1-1ubuntu1)
Replaces: mozilla-thunderbird, thunderbird-gnome-support (<= 3.0.4+nobinonly-0ubuntu3)
Task: ubuntu-desktop, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, kubuntu-desktop, kubuntu-full, xubuntu-desktop, ubuntustudio-desktop, ubuntukylin-desktop
Download-Size: 50,5 MB
APT-Manual-Installed: no
APT-Sources: focal-updates/main amd64 Packages
Description: Sähköposti-, RSS- ja uutisryhmäsovellus roskapostisuodatuksella varustettuna Thunderbird is a full-featured email, RSS and newsgroup client that makes emailing safer, faster and easier than ever before. It supports different mail accounts (POP, IMAP, Gmail), has a simple mail account setup wizard, one- click address book, tabbed interface, an integrated learning spam filter, advanced search and indexing capabilities, and offers easy organization of mails with tagging and virtual folders. It also features unrivalled extensibility.
Package: thunderbird
Version: 1:68.7.0+build1-0ubuntu2
Priority: optional
Section: mail
Origin: Ubuntu
Maintainer: Ubuntu Mozilla Team <>
Bugs:
Installed-Size: 178 MB
Provides: mail-reader
Depends: libatk1.0-0 (>= 1.12.4), libc6 (>= 2.30), libcairo-gobject2 (>= 1.10.0), libcairo2 (>= 1.10.0), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.9.14), libdbus-glib-1-2 (>= 0.78), libfontconfig1 (>= 2.12.6), libfreetype6 (>= 2.10.1), libgcc-s1 (>= 3.3), libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.31.8), libgtk-3-0 (>= 3.4), libharfbuzz0b (>= 0.6.0), libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangocairo-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangoft2-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libsqlite3-0 (>= 3.14.0), libstartup-notification0 (>= 0.8), libstdc++6 (>= 9), libx11-6, libx11-xcb1 (>= 2:1.6.9), libxcb-shm0, libxcb1, libxcomposite1 (>= 1:0.3-1), libxcursor1 (>> 1.1.2), libxdamage1 (>= 1:1.1), libxext6, libxfixes3, libxi6, libxrender1, libxt6
Recommends: myspell-en-us | hunspell-dictionary | myspell-dictionary, libcanberra0, libdbusmenu-glib4, libdbusmenu-gtk3-4
Suggests: thunderbird-gnome-support, ttf-lyx
Conflicts: mozilla-thunderbird
Breaks: thunderbird-couchdb, thunderbird-gnome-support (<= 3.0.4+nobinonly-0ubuntu3)
Replaces: mozilla-thunderbird, thunderbird-gnome-support (<= 3.0.4+nobinonly-0ubuntu3)
Task: ubuntu-desktop, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, ubuntu-desktop-default-languages, kubuntu-desktop, kubuntu-full, xubuntu-desktop, ubuntustudio-desktop, ubuntukylin-desktop
Download-Size: 42,6 MB
APT-Sources: focal/main amd64 Packages
Description: Sähköposti-, RSS- ja uutisryhmäsovellus roskapostisuodatuksella varustettuna Thunderbird is a full-featured email, RSS and newsgroup client that makes emailing safer, faster and easier than ever before. It supports different mail accounts (POP, IMAP, Gmail), has a simple mail account setup wizard, one- click address book, tabbed interface, an integrated learning spam filter, advanced search and indexing capabilities, and offers easy organization of mails with tagging and virtual folders. It also features unrivalled extensibility.

What is the basic difference between the installations of new and old versions? Are they both apt packages? How should I eliminate the old one?

2 Answers

The newer version you installed is a Snap package. The old version is coming from the regular Ubuntu software sources.

You can remove any of these using the Snap store. You will find two versions there. The one coming from Snap.io is the Snap version. Remove the other version.

The Thunderbird profile of your current version is stored under ~/.thunderbird. The profile of the snap version, however, is stored in a .thunderbird folder under ~/snap/thunderbird/common.

To have your current profile settings adopted by the snap version so your email accounts and settings are preserved, first make sure none of the Thunderbird versions is running. Then delete (or rename) the directory ~/snap/thunderbird/common/.thunderbird and move the ~/.thunderbird directory to ~/snap/thunderbird/common/.

In recent versions, newly installed versions will not automatically adopt a current default profile, but create a new one. To have it use your old profile, run thunderbird from the commandline with the -P flag (thunderbird -P): this opens thunderbird with the profile manager, where you will be able to select your correct profile.

The problem was resolved! The old version was an apt package and the new is a snap package, as @vanadium said. The old profile was safe in ~/.thunderbird and and can be restored to ~/snap/thunderbird/common/.thunderbird.

To do:

1. Ensure the old version is apt by apt list -a thunderbird command

2. Remove the old by sudo apt remove thunderbird

3. Create the new snap version by sudo snap install thunderbird

4. Restore profile following carefully orders at support.mozilla.org Profiles - Where Thunderbird stores your messages and other user data.