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My MacBook has Bookmark Toolbar Alzheimer's.

  • 10 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

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Firefox 35.0.1

Oh, please, kind gurus. My MacBook has Bookmark Toolbar Alzheimer's.

My MacBook (10.7.5) stopped showing Bookmark Toolbars in browser windows last night. (I can select it in View items for a one time use but it never reappears. After closing the browser window, It forgets).

Works fine always on my iMac.(10.7.5)

Also on the MacBook, FF Browser "customize" menu button doesn't display anything, no extra buttons etc. Same issue on FF default theme and all other themes.

Works fine on the iMac.

As a researcher, I'm totally dependent on my Toolbar Bookmarks.

Any thoughts would be dearly appreciated.

Many thanks

Firefox 35.0.1 Oh, please, kind gurus. My MacBook has Bookmark Toolbar Alzheimer's. My MacBook (10.7.5) stopped showing Bookmark Toolbars in browser windows last night. (I can select it in View items for a one time use but it never reappears. After closing the browser window, It forgets). Works fine always on my iMac.(10.7.5) Also on the MacBook, FF Browser "customize" menu button doesn't display anything, no extra buttons etc. Same issue on FF default theme and all other themes. Works fine on the iMac. As a researcher, I'm totally dependent on my Toolbar Bookmarks. Any thoughts would be dearly appreciated. Many thanks

All Replies (10)

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Hello joypebble, Bookmark Toolbar Alzheimer's ? maybe it is Bookmark Toolbar Dementia !! lol :-):-):-) i love good humor.

Any luck if you delete (with closed firefox) in your profile folder the xulstore.json file ?

thank you

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Many thanks, ideato:

I'm in the library -> application support ->Firefox -> profiles (if that's the place you suggest) but there's no xulstore.json file anywhere in sight.

Firefox is shut down. What have I done wrong?

(Will your suggestion possibly also address the loss of the "Customize" function as well?)

I love treasure hunts.  ;-)

Could it be some add-on conflict? I am using a theme that's worked fine up until this morning with no trouble. (It is the same theme being used on the iMac, same system & working fine.)

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  • ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile folder>

or

  • ~/Library/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/<profile folder>

seek something like xxxxxxxx.default.

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the xulstore.json file stores all customizations of the user interface, so deleting it in order to reset those customizations is certainly a good first starting point. if it's difficult to find the profile folder though you could also launch firefox in safe mode once and see if the customize panel is behaving normally there, in order to check that none of your extensions are interfering...

Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

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Thanks ideato and Phillip:

I found the xulstore.json in the xxdefault folder and trashed it. Restarted FF but alas, it didn't bring back the memory of the bookmark toolbar setting nor the Customize function.

(The plow just arrived after the 14 inches of overnight ice, snow and imprisonment so I must escape for groceries.

Later, I'll take a stab at Phillip's link.

Again, it's heartwarming to have all your energetic support.

Ciao for chow.


--JP

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You may have to reset the browser.uiCustomization.state pref on the about:config page as well.

You can check for problems with the preferences, see:


Make sure that toolbars like the "Bookmarks Toolbar" are visible and that "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is on the Bookmarks Toolbar.

  • "3-bar" Firefox menu button > Customize > Show/Hide Toolbars
  • View > Toolbars
    Tap the Alt key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar
  • Right-click empty toolbar area

Open the Customize window and set which toolbar items to display.

  • "3-bar" Firefox menu button > Customize
  • check that "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is on the Bookmarks Toolbar
  • if "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is not on the Bookmarks Toolbar then drag it back from the Customize palette into the Customize window to the Bookmarks Toolbar
  • if missing items are in the Customize palette then drag them back from the Customize window on the toolbar
  • if you do not see an item on a toolbar and in the Customize palette then click the Restore Defaults button to restore the default toolbar setup
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cor-el said

You may have to reset the browser.uiCustomization.state pref on the about:config page as well.  I'm afraid I'm getting into thin air here. You can check for problems with the preferences, see:  Not sure what or where this is.

Make sure that toolbars like the "Bookmarks Toolbar" are visible and that "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is on the Bookmarks Toolbar.

  • "3-bar" Firefox menu button > Customize > Show/Hide Toolbars
  • View > Toolbars
    Tap the Alt key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar
  • Right-click empty toolbar area

Open the Customize window and set which toolbar items to display.

 3-Bar menu shows customize"" box at bottom but not green color. When clicked-on, nothing happens. (No button selection etc. etc, nothing.)


 Access via the view->toolbars->customize path does nothing at all. No access to the button pages.


  • check that "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is on the Bookmarks Toolbar
  • if "Bookmarks Toolbar items" is not on the Bookmarks Toolbar then drag it back from the Customize palette into the Customize window to the Bookmarks Toolbar
  • if missing items are in the Customize palette then drag them back from the Customize window on the toolbar
  • if you do not see an item on a toolbar and in the Customize palette then click the Restore Defaults button to restore the default toolbar setup

All else in this text is futile because access to the customize area is blocked.

(My F10 is set to a function. There is no ALT button my Mac. the option does nothing to modify anything that I can see.

Sorry. Thanks but my hair is starting to throb as I move into the guts of these solutions. Any simple-sauce approach?

Thanx

--JP

(I'm eighty and need all the hair I can keep. )

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On Mac you need to use "View > Toolbars > Customize" or possibly right-click on a toolbar.

You can click the Restore Defaults button in the Customize palette to restore the default toolbar setup.

Did you open the about:config page and reset the browser.uiCustomization.state pref?

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cor-el said

On Mac you need to use "View > Toolbars > Customize" or possibly right-click on a toolbar. None of the above moves will open the customize window. It will not open no matter what path I take, There is anon-green box labeled "Customize) at the bottom of the three line menu window. I don't know any other ways to say this. You can click the Restore Defaults button in the Customize palette to restore the default toolbar setup.  No, thais impossible on my Firefox on the MacBook. I can click all I want and notning happens. Did you open the about:config page and reset the browser.uiCustomization.state pref?

I don't know the path to about:config, what is does or what the reset the browser.uiCustomization.state pre is meant to do. I don't know what the dangers are doing this because I don't know the architecture of the area you are suggesting I enter. I'm not a power user and have learned that just pushing buttons without background in what I'm doing will always cost me consulting time here in my office. Sorry but it's beyond my comfort level.

Are there tutorials that deal with the suggested moved you and other have outlined?

Thanks anyway for the suggestions.

JP

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Type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the Enter key to open the about:config page like you open a website by typing the URL in the location bar.

  • if you see a warning message then you can confirm that you want to access the about:config page.
  • use the Search bar at the top of the about:config page to locate preferences more easily
  • preferences that have been modified and do not have the default value show as bold (user set)
  • preferences that are user set (bold) can be reset to the default value via the right-click context menu
  • preferences can be modified via the right-click context menu: Modify (String or Integer) or Toggle (Boolean) or by double-clicking the line with the pref

See also:


You can create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problem.

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.