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Why does Menu Bar keep vanishing?

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My Menu Bar keeps vanishing in the last few iterations of Firefox 62. I'm not doing anything to cause this!

(And, yes, I know how to get it back -- but that doesn't diminish my aggravation of having to do so.)

My Menu Bar keeps vanishing in the last few iterations of Firefox 62. I'm not doing anything to cause this! (And, yes, I know how to get it back -- but that doesn't diminish my aggravation of having to do so.)

All Replies (9)

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I'm sure you are very familiar with the toolbar list, the one you can open using any of these methods:

  • right-click (on Mac Ctrl+click) a blank spot on the tab bar (or the "+" button)
  • (menu bar) View > Toolbars
    On Windows, tap the Alt key to activate the menu bar temporarily.
  • in Customize mode > Toolbars button (see: Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars)

Is Menu Bar getting unchecked on that list, and you have to check it again?

The status information (checked or unchecked) is stored in a file in your Firefox profile folder, along with various other settings files. Does your Firefox have trouble retaining other settings changes you've made?

Is there any pattern to when settings get lost, for example, when you exit Firefox and start it up again, or when you shut down the system and start it up again, or at midnight, or...

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Yeah, I know how to get the Menu Bar back, by going to the pertinent Options screen and rechecking the box. My problem is how it gets unchecked so that I have to check it again.

This has been happening since Firefox went to either 62.0.2 or the latest 62.0.3. I don't really know how frequently it happens, because I don't necessarily notice the absence of the Menu Bar until I go to use it for some purpose and notice it's gone.

The problem can happen at any time, I think, from closing Firefox during a session, or when I power down my computer (Windows 7, by the way) and then turn it on the same day.

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K2nc2016 said

Yeah, I know how to get the Menu Bar back, by going to the pertinent Options screen and rechecking the box. My problem is how it gets unchecked so that I have to check it again.

I don't think there is a Menu Bar setting on the Options page. Could you tell me exactly what setting it is in case we are thinking of two different things?


If the Menu Bar at the top of the window (File, Edit, View...) is always hidden when you start up, Firefox may not be successfully saving the change or some external program that cleans up browser data might be undoing it.

If the settings file that stores the on/off status of the Menu Bar and Bookmarks Toolbar (as well as window dimensions) becomes corrupted, you can rename the file and have Firefox rebuild it. Here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Exit
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename xulstore.json to something like xulstoreOLD.json. If you see a file named localstore.rdf, it's obsolete, you can delete it.

Start Firefox back up again. You will need to re-enable the Menu Bar and/or Bookmarks Toolbar. Does it stick?

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My bad in misidentifying the location of the Menu Bar check/uncheck option. Of course it's in "Customize," not "Options"

I'll try the other stuff you suggest next time this occurs.

One thing that troubles me: You mention that the xulstore file could get corrupted. I'm concerned (and definitely confused) about how that could happen repeatedly.

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Settings files should not get corrupted repeatedly. However, once they have duplicate, misplaced, or nonsensical information in them, Firefox may be unable to update them.

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Make sure that you give Firefox enough time to close properly because files can get corrupted if you power down the computer before Firefox has finished closing. If you use "Clear history when Firefox closes" to clear personal data like the disk cache then Firefox needs extra time. You can check tin the Windows Task Manager how long it takes before all Firefox and plugin-container processes are closed.

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Just FYI: This problem keeps occurring, no matter how many times I try getting a fresh xulstore. And, no, this has nothing to do with how quickly (or slowly) I shut down Firefox. So, just about every time I open Firefox, I have to fix where the Firefox window is displayed on my monitor.

And now I've gone to version 63.0, and the problem has carried over, and I have another display problem: For reasons not clear to me, there's now additional leading between every folder in my Bookmarks Toolbar and between every item within every folder.

My problem is that there are suddenly multiple changes in how Firefox is being displayed, and I have no control over any of them.

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Sign in to your firefox browser and after syncing everything, try performing a refresh before any lengthy troubleshooting process.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

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