Standalone address book

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Sometimes you might want to access the Thunderbird address book without loading the entire application. This can be done by invoking the application from the system command line with a command-line option.

Press Windows Key + R to open a Run dialog. Then enter:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook

NOTE: If you are using the 64-bit version of Windows, you may find Thunderbird installed in the Program Files (x86) directory. If so, enter:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook

Open a terminal window (Application > Utilities > Terminal), then enter:

cd /Applications/Thunderbird.app/Contents/MacOS

./thunderbird-bin -addressbook

Open Terminal, then enter:

cd <thunderbird_installation_directory>

./thunderbird-bin -addressbook

If you need to open a standalone Thunderbird address book frequently, you can make a shortcut for the command. For example, on Windows, the shortcut would have the following properties:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook

For a complete list of Thunderbird command-line options, see the Command Line Options page in the Mozilla Developer Center.

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