Applying date/time override to mail folder 'Date' column
Windows 10 Thunderbird 102.6.1 (64-bit)
In all of my mail folders the 'Date' column displays as 'HH:MM' (24 hr format). [NOTE: I just installed TB today so none of my emails are showing a date component, yet]
I would like all date/times to display based on my (Windows 10) regional settings (US/English) but none of those date/time formats are being used by TB. [NOTE: Settings > General > rado button is selected for 'Regional settings locale: English (United States)']
OK, maybe I have to configure something explicitly in TB ... I've followed the instructions listed in the following document for configuring custom date/time override preferences:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/customize-date-time-formats-thunderbird
But TB still refuses to use any of my custom configs for the 'Date' column (mail folders). [NOTE: yes, I rebooted/bounced TB]
Current settings:
intl.regional_prefs.use_os_locales true intl.date_time.pattern_override.date_full MM/dd/YYYY intl.date_time.pattern_override.date_long MM/dd/YYYY intl.date_time.pattern_override.date_medium MM/dd/YYYY intl.date_time.pattern_override.date_short MM/dd/YYYY intl.date_time.pattern_override.time_short HH:mm
NOTE: I added the medium/long/full settings not knowing which setting the 'Date' column uses.
What (obvious ?) detail or step am I missing to get the 'Date' column (mail folders) to pick up the desired date/time formats?
Thanks, Mark
Chosen solution
After some follow-on discussions with Mr Google I've finally got the 'Date' column (mail folders) displaying the way I want:
MM/dd/YYYY HH:mm
Further research lead me to this link ...
https://kb.mozillazine.org/Date_display_format
... which mentions another set of preferences (mail.ui.display.dateformat.*) of interest.
After removing the (extra) medium/long/full preferences (see original question - above), updating the *.today preference, and switching the connector preference to a space, my preferences now look like:
intl.regional_prefs.use_os_locales true
intl.date_time.pattern_override.connector_short {1} {0}
intl.date_time.pattern_override.date_short MM/dd/YYYY
intl.date_time.pattern_override.time_short HH:mm
mail.ui.display.dateformat.default 2 (default=2)
mail.ui.display.dateformat.thisweek 2 (default=2)
mail.ui.display.dateformat.today 2 (default=0)
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All Replies (5)
According to the support article, I think you have to use hyphens as separators instead of slashes, e.g. MM-dd-YYYY.
Chosen Solution
After some follow-on discussions with Mr Google I've finally got the 'Date' column (mail folders) displaying the way I want:
MM/dd/YYYY HH:mm
Further research lead me to this link ...
https://kb.mozillazine.org/Date_display_format
... which mentions another set of preferences (mail.ui.display.dateformat.*) of interest.
After removing the (extra) medium/long/full preferences (see original question - above), updating the *.today preference, and switching the connector preference to a space, my preferences now look like:
intl.regional_prefs.use_os_locales true
intl.date_time.pattern_override.connector_short {1} {0}
intl.date_time.pattern_override.date_short MM/dd/YYYY
intl.date_time.pattern_override.time_short HH:mm
mail.ui.display.dateformat.default 2 (default=2)
mail.ui.display.dateformat.thisweek 2 (default=2)
mail.ui.display.dateformat.today 2 (default=0)
Modified by markp_in_ca
While the previous post shows how I got the custom (TB) preferences to apply to the 'Date' column (mail folders), there's still one lingering question ... will TB pick up my Windows regional settings for date/time if I remove the custom preferences?
After removing the custom intl.date_time.*_short preferences I'm left with:
intl.regional_prefs.use_os_locales true
intl.date_time.pattern_override.connector_short {1} {0}
mail.ui.display.dateformat.default 2
mail.ui.display.dateformat.thisweek 2
mail.ui.display.dateformat.today 2
After restarting TB ... tada ... the 'Date' column (mail folders) is picking up my Windows format:
MM/dd/YYYY HH:mm
sfhowes said
According to the support article, I think you have to use hyphens as separators instead of slashes, e.g. MM-dd-YYYY.
TB seems to be pretty lenient when it comes to using characters (eg, / . - ) that don't already have a special meaning (eg, M Y D).
It would probably help if the 1st link ...
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/customize-date-time-formats-thunderbird
... included some notes about the mail.ui.display.dateformat.* preferences mentioned in the this link ...
https://kb.mozillazine.org/Date_display_format
I was aware of the mozillazine link, but wanted to see if the separator change was sufficient. You can suggest adding the link by clicking 'Edit Article' on the right side of the support webpage.