How to Hide Firefox Title Bar
Ranked #538 in Internet, #26,168 overall
Useful Firefox Tip for More Screen Space
Find out how to remove the title bar from your Firefox browser and get more space on the screen for websites and other content. There are two ways to do that: either by modifying your userChrome.css file and using the Full Screen mode, or installing an extension. Both methods have their pros and cons and are explained in more detail below.
First of all, I'd like to note that Firefox 4 and upwards already hides your title bar (the one with window name and minimize / maximize / close buttons) by default, provided the following conditions are met:
In this case, Firefox 4 will use its title bar for tabs when the browser window is maximized, much like Google Chrome does. That's pretty neat. But what if you're like me, and you want to keep the menu bar, but remove the title bar? Or perhaps you like having your tabs on the bottom (Firefox 3 behavior)?
For example, I keep a number of bookmarks, some RSS feeds, and a lot of extension icons that I frequently use on the menu bar. I also happen to like having the menu items (File, Edit, View, etc.) available to me at all times for quick access, instead of hidden near the orange Firefox button (new in FF4). Finally, I prefer tabs below the navigation bar.
If you, by any chance, use Firefox in a similar way, then you should find these tips on how to remove Firefox title bar useful.
First of all, I'd like to note that Firefox 4 and upwards already hides your title bar (the one with window name and minimize / maximize / close buttons) by default, provided the following conditions are met:
- The menu bar is disabled (uncheck View > Toolbars > Menu Bar, or right click on any toolbar and do the same).
- The Tabs on Top setting is on (check View > Toolbars > Tabs on Top)
- browser.tabs.drawInTitlebar setting in about:config is set to true.
In this case, Firefox 4 will use its title bar for tabs when the browser window is maximized, much like Google Chrome does. That's pretty neat. But what if you're like me, and you want to keep the menu bar, but remove the title bar? Or perhaps you like having your tabs on the bottom (Firefox 3 behavior)?
For example, I keep a number of bookmarks, some RSS feeds, and a lot of extension icons that I frequently use on the menu bar. I also happen to like having the menu items (File, Edit, View, etc.) available to me at all times for quick access, instead of hidden near the orange Firefox button (new in FF4). Finally, I prefer tabs below the navigation bar.
If you, by any chance, use Firefox in a similar way, then you should find these tips on how to remove Firefox title bar useful.
Before...
You can see the look of an unmodified Firefox (FF4 & Firefox 3 button theme) with a visible title bar above. I always use Firefox maximized, so the title bar does not serve any function, but it does take up whole 21 pixels of valuable screen space. Unacceptable!
After
You can go on with your life happily, knowing that the pesky Firefox title bar has been removed, but you still get to keep the menu bar goodness and all the extension icons that you can fit up there.
Method #1: userChrome.css Edit & Full Screen
Hack your Firefox to display the menu bar when in full screen.
You will notice that if you switch Firefox to the full screen mode (F11), both the menu bar and the title bar are hidden. In addition, the browser hides all your toolbars automatically until you mouse-over them. This hack involves changing the full screen behavior to match your needs.
Restart your browser, and you're finished! Now whenever you press F11, you will still have access to your menu, add-ons and other items, but the title bar will go away.
Props to dickvl from MozillaZine forums for sharing this tip.
Pros: easy, simple, quick, and no plugins required! If you close your Firefox while in full screen, next time it will start with this mode already on.
Cons: Windows taskbar remains hidden in the full screen mode. When opening a link in a new window, it does not start maximized.
- Uncheck Hide Toolbars setting: turn on the full screen view, move your mouse to the top of the browser window, right click on any toolbar, and uncheck the option.
- Edit your userChrome.css file: go to Firefox profile folder (Start > Run > "%APPDATA%\Mozilla\" in Windows) and navigate to the folder of the profile you want to edit (for example, g5av5h8w.default). Locate userChrome.css file in the chrome folder. If it doesn't exist, create a regular text file and name it userChrome.css. Paste in the following CSS code in it:
#navigator-toolbox[inFullscreen="true"] #toolbar-menubar {
visibility: visible !important;
max-height:26px!important;
height:auto!important;
}
Restart your browser, and you're finished! Now whenever you press F11, you will still have access to your menu, add-ons and other items, but the title bar will go away.
Props to dickvl from MozillaZine forums for sharing this tip.
Pros: easy, simple, quick, and no plugins required! If you close your Firefox while in full screen, next time it will start with this mode already on.
Cons: Windows taskbar remains hidden in the full screen mode. When opening a link in a new window, it does not start maximized.
Method #2: Hide Caption Titlebar Plus Add-On
This extension removes Firefox title bar & offers more tweaks.
Simply download and install this plugin from the official Mozilla add-ons website. Restart your browser to finish the installation. Go to Tools > 'Hide Caption T. Plus' Options and start customizing the toolbars to your liking.
To achieve the same look as shown in screenshots above, make sure Show Firefox 4's Titlebar in the Look & Feel section is set to either "In Unmaximized windows (default)" or "Disabled". To get rid of the orange Firefox button and get your regular menu back, go to the Look & Feel 2 section and uncheck the "Enable custom Firefox Application 'Home' Button..." setting. You will see the effect right away.
This plugin puts the minimize / restore / close buttons to the top right corner by default, but you can also put them anywhere by right-clicking on any toolbar, choosing "Customize" and dragging them to the desired location like you would any other extension icon.
Pros: get the look you want with a few clicks, preview most of the things without having to restart your browser, lots of options to play with besides removing the title bar. New windows open with proper settings (with titlebar & borders hidden or visible, depending on your choice).
Cons: it is a pretty big plugin that might be overkill for some people (although I haven't noticed any performance decrease).
Method #3: Personal Titlebar Plugin
This extension moves all your icons from the menu bar to title bar.
There is yet another extension that you might prefer to the one mentioned above. It's called Personal Titlebar and it simply moves all your bookmarks, extension icons, menu items and whatnot to the title bar. It does this only when the menu bar is hidden.
Install this add-on, right-click on any toolbar, and uncheck the "Menu Bar" option. You will see all your stuff moved to the title bar instead. If you reactivate the menu bar, it will jump back.
Pros: very easy to use, no unnecessary options, lighter than the previous plugin.
Cons: the title bar is not removed, just used to store your icons and menu items. It has a dark background (in my case, at least - it might be different for you, depending on your configuration), and some icons don't look very good or are hard to read. For example, the GMail Manager email addresses used black text which was unreadable.
Install this add-on, right-click on any toolbar, and uncheck the "Menu Bar" option. You will see all your stuff moved to the title bar instead. If you reactivate the menu bar, it will jump back.
Pros: very easy to use, no unnecessary options, lighter than the previous plugin.
Cons: the title bar is not removed, just used to store your icons and menu items. It has a dark background (in my case, at least - it might be different for you, depending on your configuration), and some icons don't look very good or are hard to read. For example, the GMail Manager email addresses used black text which was unreadable.
Firefox Titlebar Poll
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Jon
by Chadrew
The new Firefox 4 look is pretty neat, but it took me a while to customize it to my liking. I'm sharing some of the ideas I ended up using here.
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