---
type: entity
title: Mozilla Thunderbird
tags: [email-client, software, open-source, productivity, email, floss, communication]
related: [thunderbird-certificate-import, smime, central-email-service, universitatsrechenzentrum-urz, groupware, caldav, carddav, nextcloud, concepts/floss]
created: 2026-06-30
updated: 2026-07-01
sources: ["output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_dienste_allgemein_dfn_pki_zertifikate_nutzerzertifikat_thun.md", "output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_dienste_allgemein_e_mail_e_mail_einrichten.md", "output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_dienste_webdienste_groupware_sync_thunderbird.md", "output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_support_dokumentation_floss.md"]
---
# Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source email client available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Depending on the source, it is further described as:
- An email, newsfeed, and chat client, as well as a productivity client supported by the URZ for secure communication.
- An open-source email and productivity client supported by the [[universitatsrechenzentrum-urz]] for secure communication and organization.

## University Integration
Thunderbird is the officially recommended email and calendar client by the [[universitatsrechenzentrum-urz]] for accessing the university's [[central-email-service]].

### Groupware and Synchronization
Thunderbird supports integration with other [[groupware]] services to synchronize university data:

- **Calendar Synchronization**: Achieved via the [[caldav]] protocol (specifically for synchronizing calendars from `groupware.uni-greifswald.de`).
- **Contact Synchronization**: Achieved via the [[carddav]] protocol (specifically for synchronizing address books from `groupware.uni-greifswald.de`).
- **Central Address Book**: Can be configured to query the university's LDAP directory.
- **Large Attachments**: Integration with [[nextcloud]] via the **NC Connector** allows sending large files as links (Filelink).

For detailed setup instructions, refer to the URZ documentation on synchronization.

## Security and Encryption
Within the context of the Universität Greifswald's IT infrastructure, Thunderbird is supported for use with [[dfn-pki-zertifikate]] to provide secure email communication.

It supports the import of [[p12-file]] archives to enable [[smime]] for digital signatures and end-to-end encryption.

## Configuration
Users must use their [[zentraler-nutzeraccount]] credentials for all authentication steps when linking Thunderbird to university servers.