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I have a user claiming that, under redhat, he was able to attach a file to thunderbird by typing the absolute path to the file. Unfortunately, I don't have any redhat on which I can try it.

This option doesn't seem to be available in ubuntu 19.04. If I want to attach a file, I have to browse trough the directories to the file I want to attach. Going to other locations and enter the full path in the search field doesn't work.

Is there any way to attach a file by entering the full path to the file? Thanks.

Pablo
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    I have a RHEL system I do dev testing on and can't replicate this in their Thunderbird. Likely, this is a case where they go "Attach File" and then type in the full path directly there without browsing to it, which is the only way I was able to replicate this. This way, though, you don't have to *browse* to find the file, you just open the browse window and type the full path. – Thomas Ward Oct 28 '19 at 16:29
  • Yes, sorry. He enters the path once he clicks on "Attach File". however, this behavior seems not to be valid for ubuntu 19.04, and I don't see any option in preferences or about:config to get this feature working – Pablo Oct 28 '19 at 16:40
  • it should "Just Work" - that's functionality that isn't a 'feature' it's "just available" when you type a path in, from my testing. – Thomas Ward Oct 28 '19 at 16:48
  • Another way how to atrach a file without browsing is drag and drop. However one must drag the file in the right spot: where the list of atrachments usually appears, that's not entirely intuitive as this space is occupied by the recipient address when there is no attachment. – Max N Oct 28 '19 at 19:54

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He enters the path once he clicks on "Attach File" --OP Comment

This feature exists in ALL versions of Thunderbird, and on all OSes.

This is a feature embedded in all 'attach file' browser integrations, you just enter the full path instead of going to the specific location by browsing and selecting and hitting "attach".

This is 'standard functionality'. Nothing unique to RHEL, nothing unique to Ubuntu, it's just 'standard behavior'.

In Ubuntu and GNOME desktop, however, this 'path' bar is not visible by default. You have to trigger it by starting to type the path. DO NOT click the 'search' button to get the text box, that's not going to help you. Just start typing your path, same as your friend, the path textbox will show up the moment you hit / to start entering the path. Just enter the path and you're good. No need to 'browse' to the file. (Just tested in TBird in 19.04 and 19.10 and 20.04 DEV)

Thomas Ward
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  • I forgot to mention I'm running TB 60.9 Then I'm definitely doing something wrong, because when I click on Attach file, this is the window I see ![Attach](https://imgur.com/psN0wiK) And if I enter the path of an existing file /home/userhome/Desktop/folder/folder2/test.txt it finds nothing. – Pablo Oct 28 '19 at 17:02
  • you clicked the 'search' button first. Don't click that. Just start typing the path. It'll automatically switch to a text box the moment you hit `/` without being in the search focus. – Thomas Ward Oct 28 '19 at 17:02
  • Dude!!! Thanks! I was going crazy. I'm forced to work with widows sigh*, as my personal computer, so I'm used to the way TB works in windows, and there you must browse or select the address bar, cannot just type like that. I got it. Thanks Thomas :) – Pablo Oct 28 '19 at 17:12
  • @Pablo you're welcome. I adjusted my answer to include those bits/steps. – Thomas Ward Oct 28 '19 at 17:14
  • People are losing a lot of time while finding out how to do this because this feature is a hidden one in Ubuntu. It is unexpected that one can invoke this feature by just starting to type. A more intuitive GUI is needed for the ability type, or paste, as path, and filename. – Stephen Feb 27 '23 at 04:17
  • @Stephen then you should propose that on the proper DE environments' feature trackers or such. This is not something this answer can fix. – Thomas Ward Feb 27 '23 at 14:45