How do I Disable or Enable Menu Bar in Firefox

The Menu bar in Firefox contains many functionalities including File, Edit, View, History, Bookmarks, and others. By default, Mozilla comes with this feature disabled on it. However, if you repeatedly use the above tools on this browser, you must enable the Menu Bar in Firefox.

There’s a quick setting to hide or unhide this Menu Bar on Mozilla Firefox. This is a function key “f11“. Use this key to quickly show or hide this bar at the navigation bar. If you never use this feature much, you may configure the registry or group policy to disable it permanently.

Where does this Menu Bar appear on Mozilla Firefox?

Firefox’s menu bar appears on the nav bar and contains functions like File, View, Edit, History, Bookmarks, and others. Reading all these features, you must have known what functions they normally perform.

How to Enable or Disable Menu Bar in Firefox

If you don’t want the Menu bar appearing on Mozilla Firefox or have accidentally disabled it and want to re-enable this feature, follow either of the below two methods –

1. Using the Registry

The registry editor provides an easy way to configure the relevant settings and enable or disable the Menu bar inside Mozilla.

However, as this requires making some crucial changes to the system settings, make sure to create a registry backup or simply generate a restore point. You may use this backup if anything goes haywire while making the necessary changes to the system. Here’s what you need to do –

Press Win + R to launch the Run dialog.
Type “regedit” and hit OK.
When the UAC window prompts, hit Yes.
Inside the registry, navigate to the below path –

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies

Right-click on the Policies and proceed as follows – New > Key.
Rename this newly created key Mozilla. Now, right-click on this Mozilla key and select New > Key again.

Change its name to Firefox. Select this key and head over to its right wing.
Right-click anywhere on the blank space and choose – New > String Value.

Rename this string value entry as “DisplayMenuBar“.
Now, double-click on this string entry and type “never” in its Value data field.

Click OK to save this configuration and come out of the registry window.

Restart your PC and the Menu bar will disappear the next time you open Mozilla Firefox.

Enabling the Menu bar in Firefox

If you ever wish to bring back the Menu bar on Mozilla Firefox, re-visit the Mozilla > Firefox key under Policies and delete the Firefox key. To delete a key, just right-click on the relevant key and select delete.

2. Via Group Policy

The local group policy also provides a way using which you can either enable or disable the Menu bar on Firefox. However, as this policy is available only on premium editions, Home users can’t benefit from it. If you are on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Student editions, follow these steps to disable this menu bar on Mozilla –

Note: Do create a system restore point before following the below steps. Otherwise, you must perform a clean installation in the event of anything going wrong.

Press Win + X and choose the Run dialog.
Type “gpedit.msc” in the text field and hit OK.
Click Yes when the UAC window comes into the display.
Inside the Group Policy, reach out to the below path by using the ladder logic available on the left navigation.

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Mozilla > Firefox

Reaching there, look for the Display Menu Bar policy in the right pane. When found, double-click on it to view its settings.
Select Disabled and click Apply > OK. Alternatively, you may use the drop-down menu available beside Options and select Never as well.
Clicking on the OK button will close the group policy. Launch Mozilla Firefox again and see if the Menu bar gets disabled on this browser.

Hopefully, the Menu bar will not appear on Firefox.

How to enable the Menu bar in Firefox using Group Policy

If you ever want to bring back the Menu bar on Mozilla Firefox, re-visit the Firefox setting inside the Group Policy, and select the Enabled or Not Configured radio button. In case you had opted “never” using the drop-down menu, do change it to either On by default or Always. Click OK to save this configuration and check if the Menu bar re-appears on your Mozilla Firefox browser.

Can I hide this Menu Bar on Firefox?

Yes, of course. If you don’t want to make any registry or policy changes on your PC, you may simply hide this feature. To do so, right-click anywhere on the tab bar and select/deselect Menu Bar. This bar will appear or disappear according to the chosen setting.

There’s a keyboard shortcut as well to disable or enable the Menu bar on Firefox. This is a function key i.e. f11. Press this key to immediately hide or unhide the Menu bar on Mozilla Firefox.