Hello forrest037,

Could it be that you're using a customized Windows theme  ? If so, would you switch back to the default theme and see if that will bring the buttons back  ?

If that's not it, then let's try Firefox in Safe Mode, to see if maybe one of your extensions (if you have any) could be causing this :

If Firefox is not running : Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running : 3-bar menu => ' ? ' (at the bottom of the dropdown) => 'Restart with Add-ons disabled'. Then OK the restart. A small dialog should appear. Click 'Start in Safe Mode' ( not 'Refresh' !)

See : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

Make sure you run Firefox in desktop mode and not in tablet mode.

• https://www.top-password.com/blog/windows-10-switch-between-tablet-mode-and-desktop-mode/

it came back when i used the restart with addons disabled option. but i couldnt identify which addon was causing it even though i tried disabling and restarting with each one individually. so i used the refresh firefox option. now it is ok