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Google and firefox oo large for screen and has no handles to make it more narrow?

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Suddenly when I go into Google it is so large on my monitor that there are no sides and I cannot drag anything to my desktop because Google and any site I go into is taking up the entire screen. I've tried CTRL and my mouse; but that only makes the font, etc smaller and it still takes up the entire screen. Please help.

Suddenly when I go into Google it is so large on my monitor that there are no sides and I cannot drag anything to my desktop because Google and any site I go into is taking up the entire screen. I've tried CTRL and my mouse; but that only makes the font, etc smaller and it still takes up the entire screen. Please help.

All Replies (6)

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Do you have the normal top bar with the 3 buttons: minimize, maximize/restore, close?

If you do NOT have that bar, try the Esc key to exit scripted full screen mode and/or try the F11 function key, which switches browser full screen view on and off.

If you DO have that bar, what does the middle button look like?

  • single rectangle: you are using a resizable window and it's too large
  • two overlapping rectangles: you are using a maximized window and that's why there is no frame or resizing handles

When a resizable window is too large, a trick for making it smaller is as follows:

  • Press Alt+spacebar to show the window control menu
  • Click Size or press s
  • Tap the right arrow key once, then press the left arrow key several times until the right side of the window comes into view, then press Enter to stop resizing
  • Press Alt+spacebar to show the window control menu
  • Click Size or press s
  • Tap the down arrow key once, then press the up arrow key several times until the bottom edge of the window comes into view, then press Enter to stop resizing

From here hopefully you can get a reasonable size.

Does that help at all?

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Thank you for your time; but it didn't work. At the top I have the overlapping rectangles and clicking on themhelped. But is this going to happen every time I minimize something and then click on the single box to maximize? Also, this is occurring with my MS emails also. They take up the entire screen. When I opened Google"s homepage and did ALT+spacebar there was Size or S. When I clicked on it nothing happens. What might I do next?

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Check that you do not run Firefox in compatibility mode. You can open the Properties of the Firefox desktop shortcut via the right-click context menu and check the "Compatibility" tab. Make sure that all items are deselected in the "Compatibility" tab of the Properties window.

Try to rename/remove the xulstore.json file in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed.

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.

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m1evergreen said

Also, this is occurring with my MS emails also. They take up the entire screen.

In Firefox, or in a separate Microsoft mail app? Let's focus on Firefox.

When I opened Google"s homepage and did ALT+spacebar there was Size or S. When I clicked on it nothing happens.

That's the first step in the resizing process, then you need to use the arrows.


Cor-el already mentioned this option:

My guess is that Firefox has remembered window sizes appropriate to a different screen resolution than the one you use now. If you can't manually resize the window, you can flush the stored sizes as follows:

From inside a Firefox window, open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename xulstore.json to something like xulstore.old. If you see a file named localstore.rdf, rename that one to localstore.old.

Start Firefox back up again. Do windows have more normal sizes?

That process will re-hide the menu bar and bookmarks toolbar if you had turned them on. To turn different bars on and off, you can use one of these methods to show the toolbar list and select the desired bars there:

To turn on the Menu Bar, Bookmarks Toolbar, or other bars, click it on the list.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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Thank you Jscher for your response. When I opened Google"s homepage and did ALT+spacebar there was Size or S. When I clicked on it, it disappears. Am I supposed to right click or left click or hold down Alt? I've tried all this and it disappears, so there is no way to use the right arrow..

Modified by m1evergreen

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Sorry, I meant the right arrow key on the keyboard, by itself, once, no mouse involvement at all. Then the left arrow key, repeatedly, until the right frame of the window comes into view. To see how it works, you can try a different application whose window is already fully visible on the screen (e.g., a Notepad window).