It's under the Tools menu bar options.

The old Download Status Bar extension isn't compatible with Quantum, if that's what you're referring to.

There is a "Downloads" button that has a "progress meter" that appears on the Nav Bar when the download is proceeding, but it disappears as the download is completed.

When a download is in progress, the thin line below the arrow is a progress bar. It's hardly visible. You can use custom style rules to make it taller.

Disclaimer: I am not an artist. That's an understatement.

You can replace the background images used for the "progress bar" with your own creations, using SVG, a drawing language. I used a couple of rectangles (because they are easy) to make a taller bar shape that starts off white and fills with blue in the same manner as the current progress bar. You can compare the appearance part way through a download in the following image (built-in bar on top, taller bar on the bottom).

This is accomplished using custom style rules in a userChrome.css file. If you have never set up a userChrome.css file to customize Firefox's user interface, you'll need to set aside a little time to get acquainted with the process. I created a site that should help: https://www.userchrome.org/

Here are the rules for this crude design; a genuine SVG artist could surely create something much more attractive.

/* Replace tiny progress bar with taller one */
#downloads-button[progress] > #downloads-indicator-anchor > #downloads-indicator-progress-outer {
  background: url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=UTF-8,%3csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='16' height='16' viewBox='0 0 16 16'%3e%3crect x='1' y='6' width='14' height='10' stroke='%23333' fill='%23fff' stroke-width='1'/%3e%3c/svg%3e") center no-repeat !important;
}
#downloads-indicator-progress-inner {
  background: url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=UTF-8,%3csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='16' height='16' viewBox='0 0 16 16'%3e%3crect x='1' y='6' width='14' height='10' stroke='%230a84ff' fill='%230a84ff' stroke-width='1' style='opacity:0.7' /%3e%3c/svg%3e") left no-repeat !important;
}

GOOD NEWS. I figured it out....

Thanks for the handy code -- but thin line below the arrow wasn't there.

Do this:

VIEW >TOOLBARS>CUSTOMIZE

Look at the top right and the download progress bar is revealed. Before you exit, click on it. A small prompt appears with the option to Auto-Hide. Make sure it isn't checked or it won't appear in your toolbar.

Farmcaster said

Thanks for the handy code -- but thin line below the arrow wasn't there.

Maybe you haven't made any downloads yet during the current session. It usually shows up with the first download.

Anyway, glad you found what you were looking for (the downloads button itself).

Does nayone know how to view download progress, there is no indicator and nothing to add for download status in the "Customize" menu. I saw this suggestion, but there is no such "View" menu:

VIEW >TOOLBARS>CUSTOMIZE

When I try to close firefox, it warns me I have a download in progress, but no idea how to see it's progress. There is no arrow on the nav bar. Is this a known issue?

Thanks.

Hi jenkweb, what version of Firefox do you have currently?

In Firefox 57-61, the progress bar is a thin line below the download arrow on the Downloads toolbar button. Do you have that button?

On Windows, to show the classic menu bar (File, Edit, View...) you can tap the Alt key or press the F10 key. (These are standard menu bar activation shortcuts throughout Windows.)

There are a few other ways to call up Customize. See: Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars.

• To prevent the downloads button from hiding prior to any downloads being done, click it (left click, not right-click), and uncheck the auto-hide box.

• If the button can't be found anywhere, you can use the "Restore Defaults" button at the bottom of the Customize tab to restore the original toolbar layout.

Note: While a download is in progress, the Firefox icon on the Windows Taskbar will have partial shading. It may be green; it used to be orange. That should help determine whether it is safe to close Firefox.

I'm on 57, I'm not sure what you are referring to when saying 'Download toolbar button'. There is no such context or button anywhere that I see. I remember the download status window from previous versions, but in Quantum its not visible anywhere. I will hunt around some more and try a reinstall if no luck. Thanks for your reply.

jenkweb said

I'm on 57, I'm not sure what you are referring to when saying 'Download toolbar button'. There is no such context or button anywhere that I see. I remember the download status window from previous versions, but in Quantum its not visible anywhere. I will hunt around some more and try a reinstall if no luck. Thanks for your reply.

I don't think a reinstall is necessary. See the attached for an illustration of what you're looking for. (This is with Customize open.)