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Firefox 39.0 Back button removed from context menu. How can I get the back/forward buttons back on it?

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  • Last reply by bcnagle

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In order to optimize browsing when multitasking, the right click context menu is quick and efficient in going back and forward on pages when using multiple windows. How can I get this function back to how it was before the last update?

Firefox 39.0 Windows 7 x64

In order to optimize browsing when multitasking, the right click context menu is quick and efficient in going back and forward on pages when using multiple windows. How can I get this function back to how it was before the last update? Firefox 39.0 Windows 7 x64

All Replies (8)

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Type about:customizing<enter> in the address bar. In the new window, look for the icon. When you find it, hold down the left button on it, and move it to where you want it to be. You can move any of the icons you want from here, but some icons are locked in place.

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That would be great if that helped with the right click context menu but since it doesn't, it really has nothing to do with the post. Thanks though.

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On my Firefox, the back button (arrow icon) is still on the context menu when I right-click the page. Screen shot example attached.

Is that row of icons missing on yours? If so, is it possible you're right-clicking something that has a custom context menu such as an image, video, link or plugin?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window

If you prefer text labels in the right-click context menu instead of the icons for Back, Forward and Reload and the star to bookmark the page then you can install the "Classic Theme Restorer" extension. You can find the option to get text labels instead of icons in the context menu in the Options/Preferences of the CTR extension in the General UI section.

  • Replace page context menu icons with labels (back, forward, stop, reload, bookmark page)
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jscher2000 said

On my Firefox, the back button (arrow icon) is still on the context menu when I right-click the page. Screen shot example attached. Is that row of icons missing on yours? If so, is it possible you're right-clicking something that has a custom context menu such as an image, video, link or plugin?

Here is mine. I'll try to reset the browser but I dont carry extensions, really. I try and keep everything nice and clean for productivity reasons.

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Ok, for some reason by going into safe mode then back into normal mode (not changing anything) it fixed the problem. Thank you for your help guys'.

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Wow, never seen that. Is Firefox recording back-forward history normally, for example using the keyboard, Alt+Left Arrow goes back and Alt+Right Arrow goes forward again?


In rare cases, an update can fail to completely replace old version files with new version files in the program folder. This can lead to a range of inexplicable breakage. If no other explanation appears, you could address that using:

Clean Reinstall

We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed.

(1) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 39.0 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)

(2) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable).

(3) Rename the program folder, either:

(64-bit Windows folder names)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

to

C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox

(32-bit Windows folder names)

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

to

C:\Program Files\OldFirefox

(4) Run the installer you downloaded in #1. It should automatically connect to your existing settings.

Any improvement after this reinstall?

Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:

  • \OldFirefox\Plugins
  • \OldFirefox\browser\plugins
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Yeah all the short-key commands worked fine, it was just the right-click menu itself. I'm not sure why or how it would temporarily do that. I restarted it a few times yesterday trying to get the thing to work and found nothing online about it. I haven't cleared my old browsers/plugins in awhile, maybe its time for a pc cleanup and go through all the junk.