Add-ons
OmniSearch for Thunderbird 0.4.3
by CR0CKER
Fast, typo-tolerant email search with its own index. It finds mail Thunderbird's
built-in search misses, ranks the best matches first, and keeps itself up to date
as your mail changes. No internet access — everything stays on your computer.
About this Add-on
OmniSearch is a fast, forgiving way to find your email. Start typing and it shows
the most relevant messages right away, even if you misspell a word or only
remember part of it.
It keeps its own search index instead of relying on Thunderbird's built-in search
(Gloda), which often fails to find messages that are clearly there, including mail
you sent yourself. OmniSearch builds a separate index, keeps it up to date as your
mail changes, and can check and repair itself so messages do not quietly go
missing from search.
Finds the right email quickly
- Ranks the most relevant messages first, giving extra weight to matches in the
subject, sender, and recipient over matches deep in the body.
- Tolerates typos, so "reciept" still finds "receipt".
- Searches as you type and matches partial words ("invo" finds "invoice").
- Finds mail that Thunderbird's own search misses.
Cleaner results
- Ignores quoted replies when indexing, so a long back-and-forth thread does not
flood your results with the same text repeated in every reply. Works with the
common reply and forward styles from Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook, and
Thunderbird, including German, French, and Spanish wording.
- Shows each Gmail or IMAP message once, even when it appears in several places at
once (for example both All Mail and Inbox), and lists every folder it lives in.
- Each result shows the sender, date, folder, and a short preview.
Two ways to search
- A toolbar popup that drops down from the toolbar button.
- A centered window that opens in the middle of the screen and grows as results
appear.
Either one opens from the toolbar button or the Alt+S shortcut, and you can work
entirely from the keyboard.
Stays up to date on its own
- Updates the index automatically as mail arrives or is moved, copied, edited, or
deleted.
- "Verify and repair" re-checks every folder against the index and fixes any
differences, so a message can never stay permanently hidden from search.
- The index is saved to disk and loads quickly, so search is ready almost
instantly after you restart Thunderbird.
Private by design
- No internet access at all. Your mail and your search index never leave your
computer.
- Encrypted email (OpenPGP and S/MIME) is indexed by subject and sender only by
default; its decrypted contents are never written to disk unless you choose to
turn that on.
the most relevant messages right away, even if you misspell a word or only
remember part of it.
It keeps its own search index instead of relying on Thunderbird's built-in search
(Gloda), which often fails to find messages that are clearly there, including mail
you sent yourself. OmniSearch builds a separate index, keeps it up to date as your
mail changes, and can check and repair itself so messages do not quietly go
missing from search.
Finds the right email quickly
- Ranks the most relevant messages first, giving extra weight to matches in the
subject, sender, and recipient over matches deep in the body.
- Tolerates typos, so "reciept" still finds "receipt".
- Searches as you type and matches partial words ("invo" finds "invoice").
- Finds mail that Thunderbird's own search misses.
Cleaner results
- Ignores quoted replies when indexing, so a long back-and-forth thread does not
flood your results with the same text repeated in every reply. Works with the
common reply and forward styles from Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook, and
Thunderbird, including German, French, and Spanish wording.
- Shows each Gmail or IMAP message once, even when it appears in several places at
once (for example both All Mail and Inbox), and lists every folder it lives in.
- Each result shows the sender, date, folder, and a short preview.
Two ways to search
- A toolbar popup that drops down from the toolbar button.
- A centered window that opens in the middle of the screen and grows as results
appear.
Either one opens from the toolbar button or the Alt+S shortcut, and you can work
entirely from the keyboard.
Stays up to date on its own
- Updates the index automatically as mail arrives or is moved, copied, edited, or
deleted.
- "Verify and repair" re-checks every folder against the index and fixes any
differences, so a message can never stay permanently hidden from search.
- The index is saved to disk and loads quickly, so search is ready almost
instantly after you restart Thunderbird.
Private by design
- No internet access at all. Your mail and your search index never leave your
computer.
- Encrypted email (OpenPGP and S/MIME) is indexed by subject and sender only by
default; its decrypted contents are never written to disk unless you choose to
turn that on.
