The Firefox sidebar lets you quickly access multiple tools in one click, without leaving your main view, including:

• an AI chatbot of your choice,
• bookmarks,
• history,
• tabs from devices you sync with your Mozilla account.

Starting in Firefox 136, you can also try out a new feature in the sidebar: vertical tabs. If you turn on vertical tabs, your pinned and open tabs will appear in the sidebar instead of along the top of the browser. Early testers report feeling more organized after using vertical tabs for a few days.

Enable the updated sidebar

1. Click the menu button and select the Settings option.
2. Firefox Settings menu will open. Scroll down to the Browser Layout section and select Show sidebar.

After you enable the Firefox sidebar, a sidebar button is added to your toolbar. The sidebar with shortcuts to tools is shown on the left; you can move it to the right.

To hide and bring the sidebar back into view, click the sidebar button in the toolbar . You can also adjust the width of the sidebar panels and vertical tabs by dragging the sidebar edge and setting a width that works for you.

You can customize the location of the sidebar button by clicking the Menu button, then clicking More tools and selecting Customize Toolbar. The toolbar panel will now become customizable, so you can adjust the location of the sidebar button by dragging and dropping it in your preferred location.

Turn on vertical tabs

Right-click on either the toolbar or tab strip. Then, select Turn on Vertical Tabs from the menu.

After you’ve turned on vertical tabs, you can turn them off from the same context menus or the Customize sidebar settings.

Customize sidebar and vertical tabs

After you enable the sidebar or turn on vertical tabs, you can customize them anytime.

To display the Customize sidebar menu, click the gear icon at the bottom of the sidebar. Here’s what you can customize:

• The location of the sidebar, which you can position on either the left or right of your screen
• The tools displayed in the sidebar. Uncheck a checkbox to remove a tool from the sidebar and check a checkbox to add it.

• Turn vertical tabs on and off by checking the Vertical tabs checkbox. After you turn on vertical tabs, switch between a minimalistic collapsed view and expanded view, which shows the tab titles using the sidebar button in the toolbar or using the Ctrl + Alt + ZCtrl + Z

Ctrl + Z (macOS)/ Ctrl + Alt + Z (Linux, Windows) shortcut.

• If you prefer to keep your tabs and sidebar hidden, select the Hide tabs and sidebar checkbox. This can provide more room on screen and more focus.

Collapsed vertical tabs view

Expanded vertical tabs view

Set up sidebar tools

Some tools, like the AI chatbot and viewing tabs from other devices require additional setup.

Select the sparkle icon in the sidebar to choose a chatbot. Learn more about AI chatbots in Firefox

Set up your preferred chatbot in the sidebar

Manage tabs from devices you sync with your Mozilla account

To view and manage tabs from your synced devices, first sign in to your Mozilla account on those devices (phones, other computers, tablets).

Select the laptop and phone button in the sidebar to view and manage tabs that are open on your synced devices.

To close tabs on a synced device, hover over a tab and select the X button to close it. This closes the tab on the synced device. To undo the closing, select the Undo button that appears.

View and search browsing history

Select the clock button in the sidebar or use Ctrl + Shift + Hcommand + Shift + H shortcut to view your history in the sidebar.

View and manage bookmarks

Select the star button in the sidebar or use Ctrl + Bcommand + B shortcut to view your bookmarks in the sidebar.

Bookmark any tab by dragging it from your tab strip (vertical or horizontal) to the open bookmarks panel.

How can we improve the sidebar and vertical tabs?

We’re working on a variety of improvements, big and small, to enhance the sidebar and vertical tabs experience. Some of our top priorities include:

• Expand vertical tabs on hover.
• Remembering your last opened panel. This way, when you hide the sidebar and then reopen it, the last opened panel will already be expanded.
• Adding more sorting options for history and improving keyboard navigation. Both will help match the functionality of the previous sidebar version.

Have an idea or feedback? Please reach out to us on Mozilla Connect.