This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How do I move address bar to above tabs?

more options

DATE  : 06-06-2021 Sunday 1530

     SUB   : How do I move address bar to above tabs?
     To    : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/desktop/form
     I have recently, past few days, been upgraded to
  Firefox Browser ver 89.0.
     It made changes I am not pleased with.
     It saved essentially none of my preferences, bookmarks,
  extensions, add-ons and etc.
     Pretty much had to start from scratch, reloading extensions,
  re-configuring extensions, has taken me hours.
     For some reason year upon year Firefox always messes with the
  address bar - tabs positions.
     I get it the way I like, then * BOOM * it gets reset.
     During this past "RESET", my preferences are not saved, they
  get blown away, year after year.
     I have to spend many, many hours attempting to get positions
  back to the way I want.
     Here is current (not-pleased-with) appearance :
     ============================================
  File  Edit  View  History  Bookmarks  Tools  Help
  Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab
  Address bar, where the web page url is displayed.



     Here is what I want. What keeps getting blown away :
     ==================================================
  File  Edit  View  History  Bookmarks  Tools  Help
  Address bar, where the web page url is displayed.
  Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab


     Notice the Address bar is above the Tabs.



     Now, in ver 89, after many hours of searching, it seems
  instead of some simple switch I can select or de-select via
  a check-box, I now need to become a programmer to make this
  change.
     I am not in any fashion or manner a programmer, nor do I want
  to become one.
     Cutting, pasting, editing, proofing code, alas, is not in
  my positronic pathway(s), it simply does not stick, error in
  processing and so on.
     Perhaps I have overlooked something in my searching to
  correct this positioning problem?
     Where is the check-box I can select or de-select to position
  the Address bar to my liking?
     Please and thank you.


     LATER     

[Personal information removed by moderator. Please read Mozilla Support rules and guidelines, thanks.]

DATE : 06-06-2021 Sunday 1530 SUB : How do I move address bar to above tabs? To : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/desktop/form I have recently, past few days, been upgraded to Firefox Browser ver 89.0. It made changes I am not pleased with. It saved essentially none of my preferences, bookmarks, extensions, add-ons and etc. Pretty much had to start from scratch, reloading extensions, re-configuring extensions, has taken me hours. For some reason year upon year Firefox always messes with the address bar - tabs positions. I get it the way I like, then * BOOM * it gets reset. During this past "RESET", my preferences are not saved, they get blown away, year after year. I have to spend many, many hours attempting to get positions back to the way I want. Here is current (not-pleased-with) appearance : ============================================ File Edit View History Bookmarks Tools Help Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Address bar, where the web page url is displayed. Here is what I want. What keeps getting blown away : ================================================== File Edit View History Bookmarks Tools Help Address bar, where the web page url is displayed. Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Notice the Address bar is above the Tabs. Now, in ver 89, after many hours of searching, it seems instead of some simple switch I can select or de-select via a check-box, I now need to become a programmer to make this change. I am not in any fashion or manner a programmer, nor do I want to become one. Cutting, pasting, editing, proofing code, alas, is not in my positronic pathway(s), it simply does not stick, error in processing and so on. Perhaps I have overlooked something in my searching to correct this positioning problem? Where is the check-box I can select or de-select to position the Address bar to my liking? Please and thank you. LATER ''[Personal information removed by moderator. Please read [[Mozilla Support rules and guidelines]], thanks.]''

Modified by Chris Ilias

All Replies (3)

more options

Sorry to hear you lost data during your update. That's not normal. Do you want to look for your old data? Here are two possibilities:

(1) Firefox performed a Refresh

Your entire old profile folder would have been moved to your desktop inside a folder named Old Firefox Data -- do you see anything like that?

But normally a Refresh preserves your bookmarks and logins while resetting preferences and add-ons, so maybe that's not it.

(2) Firefox created a new profile from scratch

You can check whether your stuff is available in a different profile, as follows:

Profile Manager Page

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

This page should list at least one profile and could list many. (Each profile has two folders and one or more buttons. Do not use any Remove buttons!)

The profile that Firefox is currently using will have this:

This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted.

Do you have another profile on this page? If so, you can check whether it is the one you were using recently by clicking its Launch profile in new browser button.

If it isn't what you want, simply close that new window.

If it IS what you want, back on the about:profiles page, click the Set as default profile button for that profile so Firefox uses it automatically at the next startup.


"Tabs on bottom"

I'm sure you don't care about this history, but for reference:

  • Firefox 1.0-3.6: Tabs were just above the document
  • Firefox 4-28: Tabs moved above the main toolbar and there was a built-in preference to switch it back to the old style
  • Firefox 29-56: The built-in preference was removed, but powerful add-ons like Classic Theme Restorer could move the tabs for you simply by checking a box
  • Firefox 57+: The extension interface changed and they could no longer reconfigure the toolbar area, so userChrome.css code is needed

So Firefox 89 hasn't changed the game from what we've had for the past 4 years, except users have been reporting that their old CSS code causes the tabs to stack up in a pile at the very bottom of the browser. There are numerous threads discussing new code to work in Firefox 89. Here's an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/nq2d0q/tabs_on_bottom_for_firefox_89/

more options

DATE  : 06-17-2021 Thursday 2040

     SUB   : How do I move address bar to above tabs?
     To    : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1339324


     Hello there jscher2000!
     Thank you for your response.

> Sorry to hear you lost data during your update...

     I keep fairly regular backup of bookmark file.
  So there essentially was no loss there.
     I had to re-do many preference settings tho.
     No biggie, just annoying.


> Your entire old profile folder...

     I did not know about profile folder.
     Thank you for data concerning this.
     I am now, in future, going to regularly back that up also.


> "Tabs on bottom"

     Hmmm...
     Only thing I can say is that prior to this incident, my
  interface looked like :

  File  Edit  View  History  Bookmarks  Tools  Help

  Address bar, where the web page url is displayed.

  Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab   Tab


> Firefox 29-56: The built-in preference was removed, but powerful
  add-ons like Classic Theme Restorer could move the tabs for you...

     I do recall having that installed at some point in past.
  Whether that was months or years ago, I don't recall.

     I do notice when I go to Tools, Add-On and Themes.

     Extensions.
     Themes.
     Plugins.

     I do not see "Classic Theme Restorer".

     Thank you for your time and patience.
more options

Yes, Classic Theme Restorer is no longer an option.

You could take a look at this thread: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1339095