Thunderbird icon has disappeared & cannot open the application

[Dimanche]

I'm finally getting to the point of exasperation after about two weeks of using an iMac. The very "intuitive" way of working of macs is counterintuitive to me as a lifelong pc user. That said, I've run into several problems, but will only address in this thread the icon troubles I'm presently having.

I somehow lost the Thunderbird icon, so I'm unable to open the applicaton. I had already been using Thunderbird for a few days and have setup all my email accounts. It was working really well. Now I cannot open the application, so after searching for answers in the web, and not finding any, I decided to click on the Thunderbird dmg file. I thought that when it opened it would recognize that I already have Thunderbird set up in this computer and would give me the chance to recover the icon, which I want to permanently show in the Dock. Please also advise how I can permanently attach an icon to the Dock.

Unfortuntely , when I clicked on the Thunderbird dmg file, it didn't recognize that it was already set up and installed in the computer, so I canceled the installation. Oddly enough, now I have two Thunderbird folders but still no icon. Should I delete one of the folders ?

I tried to find out what the file extension for an icon is in a mac, but couldn't find pertinent information. It seemed to me that if I searched for icons in my computer, I may be able to determine if the Thunderbird icon is still in there or not and then go from there.

I don't want to start all over and set it up again with all my email accounts. I also want to find the Thunderbird icon and set it permanently on the Dock.

If you have any suggestions as to which book to buy to help me make the switch and begin to understand and troubleshoot these kind of problems, please let me know.

Your prompt assistance is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Jaffa Cake]

When you first ran Thunderbird on your Mac, did you actually copy the application from the dmg file into the Applications folder on your hard drive? Running it just from the dmg file would put the icon in our Dock as an open app, but once you quit it or shut down your computer it will disappear.

Please also advise how I can permanently attach an icon to the Dock.

Just locate the app in question (normally it'll be in your Applications Folder), and drag and drop the icon onto the left hand side of your Dock. To remove it, just drag it off your Dock and it'll disappear in a little puff of smoke.

 

[Dimanche]

Jaffa Cake - regarding your question & still need help

When you first ran Thunderbird on your Mac, did you actually copy the application from the dmg file into the Applications folder on your hard drive? Running it just from the dmg file would put the icon in our Dock as an open app, but once you quit it or shut down your computer it will disappear.

Just locate the app in question (normally it'll be in your Applications Folder), and drag and drop the icon onto the left hand side of your Dock. To remove it, just drag it off your Dock and it'll disappear in a little puff of smoke.

I'm afraid I don't recall if I did copy the dmg file into the Applications folder. In Windows, you just double click on an executable file and it will download to the appropriate folder. You don't have to copy or drag and drop anything.

I just know that the icon was accesible for a few days and now it has disappeared. I searched my computer and, for example, it says firefox.app but there is no .app next to Thunderbird. I have no clue whether this signals a problem, and that is why I cannot open the originally installed and configured Thunderbird.

Jaffa Cake, as I mentioned before, I tried to install or reinstall Thunderbird by clicking on the dmg file. Unfortunately, the "new" Thunderbird doesn't recognize that it has already been installed. I do see the profiles folder in the Applications folder, for example. What I just need is the icon so I can open the application. If you or someone else can help me so that I don't have to start from step 1 in Thunderbird to set up AGAIN all my email accounts, I would be very happy.