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The tab list drop down arrow has disappeared and can't be restored through the customize dialog.

  • 5 replies
  • 3 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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The dropdown arrow used to be there, as well as the tab scroll arrows when many tabs are open. But both suddenly disappeared. When I bring up the customize dialog, I can then see the drop down arrow in the tab bar, but if I click restore default set and close the customize dialog, there is still no dropdown arrow. If I open the customize dialog and drag the arrow into the dialog, it shows up there. But if I try to drag it back to the tab bar and then click Done, it still does not appear.

The dropdown arrow used to be there, as well as the tab scroll arrows when many tabs are open. But both suddenly disappeared. When I bring up the customize dialog, I can then see the drop down arrow in the tab bar, but if I click restore default set and close the customize dialog, there is still no dropdown arrow. If I open the customize dialog and drag the arrow into the dialog, it shows up there. But if I try to drag it back to the tab bar and then click Done, it still does not appear.

All Replies (5)

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Sometimes the file that stores toolbar customizations becomes corrupted. You can rename the file to restore the default layout, and customize from scratch. To do that:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using

Help > Troubleshooting Information > "Show Folder" button

Switch back to Firefox and Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename localstore.rdf to something like localstore.old

Restart Firefox. Use History > Restore Previous Session. Hopefully now your tab bar controls will be back?

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Note that you only see scroll buttons on the tab bar if you have a sufficient amount of tabs open.

Can you attach a screenshot with the Customization window open that shows this arrow?

Use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot.

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No, I'm sorry to say that the dropdown arrow did not come back.

When I re-launched Firefox, it created a new localstore.rdf file, but the problem remained.

See the two images below. The only time I can see the dropdown arrow is when the customize dialog is open. As soon as it closes, the arrow disappears.

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Yes, I know the scroll arrows only appear when there is something to scroll.

But when I have a full tab set, the scroll arrows do not appear. They disappeared along with the tab dropdown arrow.

The images show the screen before opening the customize dialog and then after it is open. As soon as the customize dialog is closed, the dropdown arrow disappears.

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You will only see the "List All Tabs" button in Firefox 12+ if there are that many tabs open that you get the Tab bar scroll buttons appearing.


Alternatively you can add code to the userChrome.css file below the default @namespace line.

The customization files userChrome.css (interface) and userContent.css (websites) are located in the chrome folder in the Firefox profile folder.


@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul"); /* only needed once */

#tabbrowser-tabs ~ #alltabs-button { visibility:visible!important; }