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Firefox no longer respects "always show menu bar" settings.

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I hate it when popups or links open a new window without menu bars, URL bars, etc. I want every Firefox window to show the same controls.

Previously I was able to accomplish this easily by setting the window_open_feature settings in about:config as shown in the attached image. This worked every time.

This no longer works and now I have popups that show only the URL bar but it has somehow managed to hide the menu bar (sorry if this is incorrect terminology, I mean the one with the "File" menu), the navigation buttons (back, forward, etc), all the addon buttons, the bookmarks toolbar which I have configured to show, and the only button is a sandwich on the right.

I am confused why this no longer works, but is there some new way to prevent this? I thought it was just a matter of ignoring some options on the URL tag but something is weird. Is this a new bug?

I hate it when popups or links open a new window without menu bars, URL bars, etc. I want every Firefox window to show the same controls. Previously I was able to accomplish this easily by setting the window_open_feature settings in about:config as shown in the attached image. This worked every time. This no longer works and now I have popups that show only the URL bar but it has somehow managed to hide the menu bar (sorry if this is incorrect terminology, I mean the one with the "File" menu), the navigation buttons (back, forward, etc), all the addon buttons, the bookmarks toolbar which I have configured to show, and the only button is a sandwich on the right. I am confused why this no longer works, but is there some new way to prevent this? I thought it was just a matter of ignoring some options on the URL tag but something is weird. Is this a new bug?
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

This was an intentional change to behave like other browsers. (sad face)

One built-in option is to force those scripted popups into a tab in the same window. Not ideal for "dialog-style" popups, but when you don't need to see the popup floating over the original page, this will give you the full interface:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste neww and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 0 then press Enter or click the blue check mark button to save the change.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.


Here's a little more context on that setting and the related settings:

(A) browser.link.open_newwindow - for links in Firefox tabs

This is the one that has a checkbox on the Preferences page:

  • 3 = divert new window to a new tab (default)
  • 2 = allow link to open a new window
  • 1 = force new window into same tab

(B) browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction - for links in Firefox tabs

By default, if a page sets width, height, or toolbars for a popup, Firefox will let it be a separate window. To force those into a tab as well, you can change this preference to 0:

  • 0 = apply the setting under (A) to ALL new windows (even script windows with features)
  • 2 = apply the setting under (A) to normal windows, but NOT to script windows with features (default)
  • 1 = override the setting under (A) and always use new windows

(C) browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external - for links in other programs

  • -1 = apply the setting under (A) to external links (default)
  • 3 = open external links in a new tab in the last active window
  • 2 = open external links in a new window
  • 1 = open external links in the last active tab replacing the current page
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All Replies (2)

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Chosen Solution

This was an intentional change to behave like other browsers. (sad face)

One built-in option is to force those scripted popups into a tab in the same window. Not ideal for "dialog-style" popups, but when you don't need to see the popup floating over the original page, this will give you the full interface:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste neww and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 0 then press Enter or click the blue check mark button to save the change.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.


Here's a little more context on that setting and the related settings:

(A) browser.link.open_newwindow - for links in Firefox tabs

This is the one that has a checkbox on the Preferences page:

  • 3 = divert new window to a new tab (default)
  • 2 = allow link to open a new window
  • 1 = force new window into same tab

(B) browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction - for links in Firefox tabs

By default, if a page sets width, height, or toolbars for a popup, Firefox will let it be a separate window. To force those into a tab as well, you can change this preference to 0:

  • 0 = apply the setting under (A) to ALL new windows (even script windows with features)
  • 2 = apply the setting under (A) to normal windows, but NOT to script windows with features (default)
  • 1 = override the setting under (A) and always use new windows

(C) browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external - for links in other programs

  • -1 = apply the setting under (A) to external links (default)
  • 3 = open external links in a new tab in the last active window
  • 2 = open external links in a new window
  • 1 = open external links in the last active tab replacing the current page

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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Just to comment on my observation, I simply changed browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction to '0' and it is now opening popups in a new tab with all the menu bars intact as you suggested.

This will be fine for me, I can at least just drag the tab to a new window and keep the menus intact!

Thanks for your efforts!