• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/How+to+customize+the+toolbar
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Back+and+forward+or+other+toolbar+items+are+missing

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).

To Enable SafeMode

• You can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
• Or open the Help menu and click on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item while Firefox is running.
• Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode"

If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.

Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: "Firefox > Quit Firefox"; Linux: "Firefox/File > Quit")

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Thank you iamjayakumars, The next time this occurs I will try what you suggested. Good troubleshooting suggestion. Since problem is intermittent, may be a while before the problem surfaces again, but will post back my results when it does.

You can check for problems caused by a corrupted localstore.rdf file.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Corrupt_localstore.rdf

Make sure that toolbars like the "Navigation Toolbar" and the "Bookmarks Toolbar" are visible.

• Firefox menu button > Options
• View > Toolbars (press F10 to display the menu bar)
• Right-click empty toolbar area

Use Toolbar Layout (Customize) to open the Customize window and set which toolbar items to display.

• 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 toolbar palette into the Customize window to the Bookmarks Toolbar

• if missing items are in the toolbar 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 toolbar palette then click the "Restore Default Set" button to restore the default toolbar setup

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/How+to+customize+the+toolbar

See bug https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=973204

Hi N123

Do bookmarks appear on the Bookmarks Toolbar if you open a new window when they are missing?

It is possible that Firefox has a problem with accessing the places.sqlite database file on a first start.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file

Hi cor-el

I will take a look next time it occurs but regardless it should not happen with the toolbar engaged and nothing showing.

The issue repeated itself and I was able to open a new window and the bookmarks appeared. I ran the extension mentioned in the article and it found no issues.

I have a master password set together with Firefox Sync and wonder as I was late in entering the master password, this caused Sync maybe to lock the places db?