How to Customize the Firefox Toolbar: Move, Show and Restore Toolbars
Want to customize the Firefox toolbar? Messy browser toolbars waste screen space. In 2009 I fixed a friend’s Firefox, where a tiny address bar sat squeezed beside the bookmarks, a blank toolbar row wasted space and a huge Google search box pushed the Google Toolbar off screen. Unlike Internet Explorer, Firefox had no “lock the toolbars” option, and the trick was the Customize window. Today Firefox’s toolbar is simpler, but the same Customize tool still lets you move buttons and restore defaults. Here is how in 2026.
Quick answer: Right-click an empty part of the Firefox toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar (or open the menu ☰, then More tools, then Customize toolbar). Drag buttons where you want them, add or remove the search bar, choose which toolbars show, and click Done. Click Restore Defaults to undo everything.
Table of Contents
How to customize the Firefox toolbar
- Right-click a blank area of the toolbar next to the address bar.
- Select Customize Toolbar…. A customization page opens with all available buttons.
- Drag buttons from the panel onto the toolbar, or drag unwanted buttons off it into the panel.
- Use the Overflow Menu (the » icon) to keep less-used buttons out of the way.
- Use the Toolbars drop-down at the bottom to show the Menu Bar or Bookmarks Toolbar.
- Click Done. Your layout is saved automatically; there is no separate lock.
Show or hide toolbars in Firefox
- Bookmarks Toolbar: press Ctrl + Shift + B (Cmd + Shift + B on Mac), or right-click the toolbar and choose Always show, Only show on New Tab, or Never show.
- Menu Bar (File, Edit, View): press Alt to show it temporarily, or right-click the toolbar and tick Menu Bar to keep it visible.
- Title bar: in Customize Toolbar, tick Title Bar at the bottom left if you prefer a classic window title.
- Search bar: Firefox now searches from the address bar. To bring back a separate search box, add it in Customize Toolbar.
Useful layout tweaks
- Density: choose Compact or Touch spacing in Customize Toolbar (Compact may need enabling in about:config on newer versions) to fit more on screen.
- Extensions: pin your most-used extensions to the toolbar from the puzzle-piece Extensions menu, and unpin the rest.
- Vertical tabs: newer Firefox versions can show tabs down the side, which frees space on wide screens.
- Themes: change colours in Settings, then Extensions and Themes.
How to restore the Firefox toolbar to default
If the layout gets messy, open Customize Toolbar and click Restore Defaults. Your buttons return to their original places. Bookmarks and extensions are not deleted, but you will need to re-pin any extension buttons you moved. If toolbars disappeared completely, press Alt, choose View, then Toolbars, and tick the ones you need. Still broken? Firefox’s Refresh Firefox resets settings while keeping bookmarks and passwords.
Where did the Google Toolbar go?
The Google Toolbar for Firefox from our 2009 example was discontinued long ago, along with most browser toolbars; see what happened to popular browser toolbars. Today extensions add small buttons instead. Pick the useful ones from our list of the best Firefox extensions, and learn to manage tabs in Firefox.
FAQ
How do I lock the toolbar in Firefox?
Firefox has no lock option. Toolbars cannot be moved except in Customize mode, so they are effectively locked whenever you are not customizing.
Why is my Firefox menu bar missing?
It is hidden by default. Press Alt to show it, or right-click the toolbar and tick Menu Bar.
Can I move the address bar to the bottom?
On Firefox for Android, yes, in Settings, then Customize, then Toolbar. On desktop, the address bar stays at the top.
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Not working in Firefox 4 or 5. Why do you say it works?
Correct me if I am wrong, but this tip does NOT move the entire toolbar, but just each icon on the toolbar, one at a time – correct?? I moved the icons on the Google toolbar up into the address bar, and there was still a blank row where the Google toolbar had been. Removing the check from Google toolbar in the right-click drop-down menu removed the blank line. Thus, I do not move the Google tool bar originally, just emptied it by moving all the icons to the address bar.
Thank you so much! I tried several other help links and yours was the one that worked for me!
Once I’d move it, the google bar went all the way along the screen. anyone know how to downsize it?
Thank you so much!
THis is one of the first time’s I’ve wanted to donate to someone who’s made something like this.
The View -> Toolbars -> Customize Toolbar way didn’t work for me, but here is another way that does in case anyone else has this problem. Close all open tabs and windows of Firefox and reopen it in Safe Mode (Start -> Programs -> Mozilla Firefox -> Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode)). When the Firefix Safe Mode dialogue box appears make sure all five options are unchecked accept the Reset toolbars and controls option.
Thanks so much for this! I’ve gone back to Firefox after a while of using Opera because Opera’s become a ram-munching/always-crashing monster, and I was annoyed at all the toolbars taking up my vertical screen space.
Now everything’s neatly in one toolbar, awesome!
Thanks so much for this tip! I was driving myself crazy trying to remember how I’d moved my toolbars around.
I have installed two toolbar on my firefox 3.5.3
1_Mininova toolbar
2_TheFreeDictionary toolbar.
Now I want both of these toolbars to be placed on a single line to increase visible text area.
please reply.
I’ve also downloaded various toolbars. Most addon toolbars cannot be modified because whomever wrote the program didn’t feel the need to put that in. Which is why I’m getting rid of my very useful toolbars.
Thanks for the tips, I’ve used firefox for a while now and still didn’t think to leave the customize window up so I could move things around.
tks for the tip, very useful.
I never use IE, and was wondered to see this “Lock Toolbar” function… its same as windows’ “Lock Taskbar” :D :P