Here’s the end result, including an optional dark theme to reduce eye strain:

Update 2023: Spark now has a desktop email app for Windows, and one for MacOS that I’m using. And for anyone using a browser based email system, I recommend the dark reader browser extension.

Ok, so I’ve done the research. I wanted to be able to have the best Gmail alternative (because, let’s face they do a great job with UI). I wanted to have the best email UI for my computer and phone (a unified solution that Google solves well) with as little compromise on the overall experience as possible. I don’t want to feel like I’m in the stone age while dealing with my emails. I also wanted to have a great email dark theme for laptop use that reduces eye strain. It took some searching, trying out different products and services, some contemplation, and some problem solving. I was able to put together a solution with everything I wanted!

In my quest, I tried Protonmail (cannot search email bodies, can only use their mail app which is pretty limited), Kolabnow (had an immediate ugh reaction to their UI and they have some of the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced), Mailbird (no spam filter!), Outlook (no hope of a fully dark theme) and Thunderbird. The funny thing is, Thunderbird is the best solution and it’s the only one that is free and cross platform! And critically, Thunderbird has a trainable spam filter.

So if you’d like to try this out, here are the steps:

The first step in setting up a Gmail alternative is having a new email address. If you already have the email address(es) you need, go ahead and skip to step 2. After trying all the options, I think the best solution is to get your own, private email address. It takes some focus, but I’ll walk you through all the steps. And once this is done, it’s done. You have your own, private email for good!

1. Download and install the latest version of Thunderbird.

2. Thunderbird offers thousands of themes. If you’d like a fully dark theme, then install the TT Deepdark theme: https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/tt-deepdark/ and then proceed to step 3 to complete the dark theme.

Note: there is a known bug when installing it, just follow the instructions and it will install fine.

Install custom themes in Thunderbird here:

3. Once you have the theme installed, if you want to change the background color and text color of the read and compose email windows, in Thunderbird go to (you have to press the alt key to get the top menu to appear): Tools > Options > Display > Fonts & Colors > Colors. Set the background color and text color you want (I use #2e2e2e and #cccccc) and then be sure to choose “Always” for the colors override setting.

Assuming you want to access your email accounts across devices, you’ll want to use the IMAP protocol to connect your computer and phone to your email accounts and get them working properly.

It works well. If you look at an email on your phone for example, and then delete it, you won’t have to re-delete it when you open Thunderbird on your computer.

So there you go. you now have a complete Gmail alternative for your computer and phone.

Step 1: Set Thunderbird as the default email client.

Step 2:

• Go to a folder where you’d like the shortcut stored (like Documents)
• Right click in the folder and choose New > Shortcut
• For the location, enter: “mailto:”
• Hit “Next”
• Give the shortcut a name (i.e., Compose Email)
• Click “Finish”
• Now, right click on the shortcut you just created and choose “Properties”
• In the Shortcut Key field, type the letter “Z”. You can choose almost any key you want. The key combination must include CTRL + ALT or CTRL + SHIFT. So for example: CTRL + SHIFT + Z
• Press “OK”

You’re all set! Now you have a system wide keyboard shortcut to compose new emails. Awesome.

Note: if you try to move the shortcut after setting it up, it will stop working. In this case just open the shortcut properties again and re-enter the key combo you want and hit “Apply.”

If you’ve gotten used to snoozing emails, you know it’s a must have. Fortunately, there is an add on that allows you snooze emails in Thunderbird:

https://mailmindr.net/en/index.html

Instructions:

1. Download the latest version of the add on directly from the link above to your desktop.
2. Go to the add-on manager in Thunderbird and, under the gear icon at the top, choose “Install Add-on from File”
3. Once Mailmindr is installed, restart Thunderbird.
4. Go back to the add ons manager, and select “Options” for Mailmindr.
5. Click on the “Inbox Zero” tab.
6. For all your connected email accounts, select the folder “Later”
7. Press “Ok” and then restart Thunderbird one more time.

You’re all set. There is now an “Add Reminder” button above the reading pane for emails. All you have to do is press that button, select a time frame and hit “ok.” The email will be moved to the “Later” folder and then reappear at the desired time.

And, you can totally customize the snooze options. For example, you can create a list of options like:

• In an hour
• Later today
• This evening
• Tomorrow morning
• Later this week
• Etc…

It’s totally customizable which is great and you can even set a default value for quick snoozing.

Yes, the Lightning calendar that comes with Thunderbird is great! And setting it up is a breeze. Here’s the add on you’ll want to use to sync to your existing calendars and task accounts:

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-us/thunderbird/addon/tbsync/

Supported account types are:

• CalDAV & CardDAV (this includes iCloud for example and will allow you sync to an apple calendar as well as the reminder app on iPhone)
• Exchange ActiveSync (EAS)

TBSync handles calendars as well as tasks! If you need help connecting your accounts, here’s the documentation: https://github.com/jobisoft/TbSync/wiki/How-to-get-started

As part of this whole process, I’ve tried using Microsoft’s Outlook.com as well as Apple’s iCloud. Since I have accounts with both companies, functionality is what wins out.

Transferring contacts from Gmail to Outlook.com was a broken process. I would have had to end up manually transferring all my contacts. Transferring contacts to my iCloud account from Gmail was a breeze (took about 2 minutes). Here’s a good article to walk you through those easy steps…