Firefox 29 - tabs don't work, no menu bar or button
I turned on the computer to find firefox has autmoatically updated. I usually delay it as long as possible, because I always encounter problems. This time, the first thing I noticed was that my tabs don't work. My 'new tab' button has disappeared, and even when I right-click and hit 'open in new tab', nothing happens. Then I thought I'd look for something wrong in the menu bar - only it's not there. The option is selected when I right click. There's no orange button. There's no new button on the right of the search bar. Hitting the alt key doesn't bring it up. It has just disappeared. Considering all solutions I have googled involve clicking on something in the menu bar, this is a big problem. I have already tried restarting.
Chosen solution
Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.
- Download the full Firefox installer and save the file to the desktop
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
- Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
- (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
- (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"
- It is important to delete the Firefox program to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.
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All Replies (3)
You can try to click "Restore Defaults" in the customize window.
- "3-bar" Firefox menu button > Customize
- View > Toolbars > Customize
You can also check for problems caused by a corrupted localstore.rdf file.
In current Firefox releases (29 and later), that have have the Australis user interface, the orange Firefox menu button has been replaced by the three-bar Firefox Menu button at the far right end of the Navigation Toolbar and this button is always visible, whether you have the menu bar visible or hidden
A consequence of this location is that you no longer can hide the Navigation Toolbar
- There is a star like button next to the search bar on the Navigation Toolbar to bookmark the current web page and a "Show your bookmarks" button next to it to open the Bookmarks in a drop down menu.
You can find "Show All Bookmarks" to open the Bookmarks Manager (Library) at the bottom of this drop-down list - If you bookmark a page then "Bookmark This Page" in the Bookmarks menu changes to "Edit This Bookmark"
- You can make the title bar visible via the "Title Bar" button at the bottom left in the Customize palette window
It is still possible to have the menu bar visible via the right-click context menu of a toolbar to have menus like the File menu with Print (Ctrl+P) and Print Preview and the Bookmarks menu available.
See also:
Modified by cor-el
I already tried that.... it didn't bring up any menu options
Chosen Solution
Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.
- Download the full Firefox installer and save the file to the desktop
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all.html
If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.
- Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.
Remove the Firefox program before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.
- (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
- (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"
- It is important to delete the Firefox program to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Uninstalling_Firefox
Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.
If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.