The Firefox sidebar lets you quickly access multiple tools in one click, without leaving your main view, including:

• bookmarks
• history
• tabs from devices you sync with your Mozilla account

To hide and bring the sidebar back into view, click the sidebar button in the toolbar. The sidebar with shortcuts to tools is placed on the left by default; you can move it to the right. Sidebar also allows you to switch to vertical tabs. If you turn on vertical tabs, your pinned and open tabs will appear in the sidebar instead of along the top of the browser.

Turn on vertical tabs

Right-clickRight-click (or hold down the Control key while you click) on either the toolbar or tab strip. Then, select Turn on Vertical Tabs from the menu.

Note: When vertical tabs are turned on, you can access the Tab overview menu from the List all tabs icon in the toolbar.

After you’ve turned on vertical tabs, you can turn them off from the same context menus or from the Customize sidebar settings.

Move the sidebar to the left or right

The sidebar shows up on the left by default, but you can also move it to the right.

1. Right-clickRight-click (or hold down the Control key while you click) the sidebar button.
2. Select Customize Sidebar from the menu.
3. In the Sidebar settings panel, check Move Sidebar to the right.

   

Tip: You can also customize the location of the sidebar button by clicking the Firefox menu button, then clicking More tools and selecting Customize Toolbar… The toolbar panel will now become customizable, so you can adjust the location of the sidebar button by dragging and dropping it in your preferred location. To learn more about toolbar customization, see Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars.

Customize sidebar and vertical tabs

After you enable the sidebar or turn on vertical tabs, you can customize them anytime.

To display the Customize sidebar panel, click the gear icon at the bottom of the sidebar. Here’s what you can customize:

• Settings for vertical tabs
• The location of the sidebar, which you can position on either the left or right of your screen.
• The tools displayed in the sidebar. Uncheck a checkbox to remove a tool from the sidebar, and check a checkbox to add it.

  

• Turn vertical tabs on and off by checking the Vertical tabs checkbox. After you turn on vertical tabs, switch between a minimalistic collapsed view and expanded view, which shows the tab titles using the sidebar button in the toolbar or using the Ctrl + Alt + ZCtrl + Z shortcut.
• If you prefer to keep your tabs and sidebar hidden, select the Hide tabs and sidebar checkbox. This can provide more room on screen and more focus.

Collapsed vertical tabs view

Expanded vertical tabs view

Set up sidebar tools

Some tools, like the AI chatbot and viewing tabs from other devices, require additional setup.

Set up your preferred chatbot in the sidebar

Select the sparkle icon in the sidebar and choose a chatbot. Learn more about AI Chatbots in Firefox.

Manage tabs from devices you sync with your Mozilla account

To view and manage tabs from your synced devices, first sign in to your Mozilla account on those devices (phones, other computers, tablets).

Select the laptop and phone button in the sidebar to view and manage tabs that are open on your synced devices.

To close tabs on a synced device, hover over a tab and select the ✕ button to close it. This closes the tab on the synced device. To undo the closing, select the Undo button that appears.

View and search browsing history

Select the clock button in the sidebar or use Ctrl + Shift + HCommand + Shift + H shortcut to view your history in the sidebar.

View and manage bookmarks

Select the star button in the sidebar or use Ctrl + BCommand + B shortcut to view your bookmarks in the sidebar.

Bookmark any tab by dragging it from your tab strip (vertical or horizontal) to the open bookmarks panel.