To configure your email account you will need the email information provided by your ISP or email provider.
Open Thunderbird:
in GNOME, click Applications > Internet > Thunderbird on the top menu bar.
in KDE, click Kickoff Application Launcher > Applications > Internet > Email menu entry.
The first time you start Thunderbird the Account Wizard opens to guide you through the setup of your account. If the Account Wizard does not open, select File > Create New Account in the main window to open the wizard.
Select Email account and press Next.
Fill in your name and email address, and click Next.
Now choose POP or IMAP and type in the names of the Incoming and Outgoing servers and select Next. This information should have been provided by your email service.
In the next window, fill in your username for your email provider. Normally your Incoming and Outgoing username are the same. Press Next.
Type in whatever you want for your Account Name and click Next. This will be used to represent the new account in Thunderbird.
Check the summary in this window. If something needs to be changed press the Back button; otherwise click Finish. Now Thunderbird connects to the server to download your email messages.
If the download fails, your email account may require secure connections. In this case, select Edit > Account Settings > Server Settings and select your secure setting. Often the setting is SSL, but this information should be provided by your email service.