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

• Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Well, I did some testing in Windows and figured out what was going on. Ubuntu's universal menu system does not allow you to hide the menu bar, so Firefox sees that the Bookmarks dropdown menu is always visible. The behavior can be replicated in Windows by enabling View > Toolbars > Menu Bar. So, it seems like there is currently no way to view the Bookmarks button in Ubuntu.

If had the exact same problem. I fixed it by turning off the menu bar. Firefox 13 will hide the drop down bookmarks menu if you have the menu bar turned on because it already has it's own bookmarks menu.

You can do this two ways:

From View > Toolbars > UNCHECK Menu Bar

OR

By right clicking the top menu bar then UNCHECKING Menu bar that way as well. As long as the menu bar is disabled, the bookmarks menu to the right of google search comes right back up. (Double check that it shows up in customize at first, I made the mistake of disabling it because it wasn't working and forgot.)

...nice idea, except that in my 13.0.1 there is no [Menu Bar] in that list. Navigation, Bookmarks, and Add-On Toolbars are selectable. I am in the exact opposite situation.. I want to CHECK the Menu bar! Pressing ALT and wandering through that stupid interface just to find an option that belongs front and center at all times is getting old *fast*.

Is there an about:config option I can toggle to get this working?

Is this a Linux version peculiarity?

Ubuntu Firefox distros include an add on for menu integration. Disable that and restart Firefox and the menu bar moves from the global bar to the Firefox window where you may expect it. You then get the option to turn off the menubar and use the Firefox button instead.

Now you can add the bookmarks dropdown, see it and use it.

In fact just trying that on canonical Aurora I have just done that and got the Firefox button and the bookmarks star icon on the bookmarks toolbar, and I although I still see the global options eg bookmarks appearing they are now inactive, IIRC last time I tried this with earlier versions they just disappeared.

Note also that even with the global menu integration the Bookmarks sidebar is available using keyboard shortcut Ctrl +B, that may be useful especially if using a wide screen display.

@John99 Thanks. Fixed it following your instruction.