Make sure Firefox isn't set to run in permanent Private Browsing mode (Always use Private Browsing mode; Never Remember History).

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing

• Settings -> Privacy & Security
  Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
• remove checkmark: [ ] "Always use Private Browsing mode"

See also:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-previous-session

Ok, so I took a look, It was not set to always use private browsing, but was set to remember browsing and download history as well as set to remember search and form history, which I unchecked. I set it to the use custom settings for history and checked clear history when firefox closes, and I'm about to see if that does anything.

Edit: Ok, no, I'm still seeing stuff under the 'recently bookmarked' section even after trying that. So I'm not sure what happened here.

As long as you have bookmarks you always see items listed under recently bookmarked as this shows the results of a places database query (list ordered by date added, descending). As long as there are bookmarks you will see recent bookmarks listed, so do not get confused by the presence of those recent lists.

As long as you have bookmarks you always see items listed under recently bookmarked as this shows the results of a places database query (list ordered by date added, descending). As long as there are bookmarks you will see recent bookmarks listed, so do not get confused by the presence of those recent lists.

Yes, but those usually vanish when you hit clear all history, or at least it did up until this most recent edition. They would also vanish from that section if I shut down the browser and wouldn't be there if I opened it up again later, whether it be a minute, five minutes, a half hour, or even a full 12 hours after. It also used to remove the list of most recent bookmarks once it passed 12 midnight. Now it's just always showing stuff in the 'recently bookmarked' section.

Or are you saying that new versions of the browser now do this as a regular thing instead of allowing those to be removed from the recently bookmarked section the way it used to? If the latter, then that at least explains it. But that's still weird.

So I just tested to see if this was an issue anywhere else. I'm specifically at the local library. And not only does the issue of the 'recently bookmarked' not show up on the version I just downloaded on the computer here, there isn't even a listing for 'recently bookmarked' at all. Which just makes things even more confusing. I'm including a few screenshots of what I'm seeing here at the Library, and will take a few more once I get home to show what I'm seeing there.

Ok, so I just got back home and got online. As I mentioned before, when I checked the most recent version of the browser at the library, the icon and material I mentioned does not even show up on the bookmarks menu, though it does appear in the Open applications menu on both. As I mentioned, the material in the 'Recently bookmarked' in the dropdown from the menu bar usually vanished when I would hit clear all history. At least as far as I ever knew. If I am misremembering that for something else, then I apologize. But I'm pretty sure this at least used to be the case. But I'm curious as to why the icon is even in that dropdown in the menu bar at all if the most recent version isn't supposed to even have it there. Could that be a holdover from previous versions?

I'm including screenshots from what I see on my personal browser at home to compare to the info I presented from the library in the previous post.

So you still have some so called smart folder bookmarks in the Bookmarks Menu folder from very old Firefox versions when those smart folders were still created automatically. We had a knowledge base article back then:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Smart+Bookmarks+folders
• Bug 1446325 - Stop inserting the default smart bookmarks into new profiles [63]

You can simply delete these smart folder bookmarks that have a special cogwheel icon via the right-click context menu or in the Bookmarks Manager (Library) from the Bookmarks Menu folder.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-delete-bookmark

This is different than the Recent lists that shows in the Bookmarks and History menus in the "3-bar" Firefox menu button panel that got added with the switch to modern Firefox versions and that can't be removed, but can be hidden via CSS code in userChrome.css.

So you still have some so called smart folder bookmarks in the Bookmarks Menu folder from very old Firefox versions when those smart folders were still created automatically. We had a knowledge base article back then:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Smart+Bookmarks+folders
• Bug 1446325 - Stop inserting the default smart bookmarks into new profiles [63]

You can simply delete these smart folder bookmarks that have a special cogwheel icon via the right-click context menu or in the Bookmarks Manager (Library) from the Bookmarks Menu folder.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-delete-bookmark

This is different than the Recent lists that shows in the Bookmarks and History menus in the "3-bar" Firefox menu button panel that got added with the switch to modern Firefox versions and that can't be removed, but can be hidden via CSS code in userChrome.css.

So deleting that cogwheel section won't harm the bookmarks folders themselves? If that's the case, I might do that, yeah.

> So deleting that cogwheel section won't harm the bookmarks folders themselves?

The "bookmarks" that have the cog/wheel/gear show query-generated lists and not actual bookmarks or folders. You can move those around or delete them without affecting the items on their lists.

If in doubt, make an extra backup: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer (see the Manual Backup section).

> So deleting that cogwheel section won't harm the bookmarks folders themselves? The "bookmarks" that have the cog/wheel/gear show query-generated lists and not actual bookmarks or folders. You can move those around or delete them without affecting the items on their lists.

Ahh. That explains a bit. I wondered if those were safe to delete or not. I'll give that a try later.